Bitter
by Hexzhana
Summary: Hearth and home destroyed for seemingly no reason, a teenage Dag vows to kill her family's murderers with one of their own kind. Years later the Predator that half raised her returns, their prey has left a trail to trace and the hunt begins again. Inspired by one of Solain Rhyo's works. Starts off slow and for that I apologize, there will be gore and smut aplenty soon enough :)
1. Chapter 1

-Prologue-

On a planet with orange skies and ash colored earth a skinny teenager stood near the burning ruins of their home. A farm, single and isolated from the outer colonies, it was supposed to be somewhere safe and quiet, shielded by distance from the war.

Dark eyes flat and dead the human being gazed out into the burning sunset, brown face dry and cracked with blood that glowed an unnatural green. They were tall and gangly, on the cusp of adulthood, ash and blood clung to their halo of curly hair. An alien stood beside them, more than two meters tall, weathered, scarred, and worn. The jewelry bound around his locs chimed softly in the dry air as he lay his heavy paw of a hand on the human's shoulder. A low chittering growl issued from behind the mask he wore. The two watched in furious silence as the orange sunlight skimmed off of the metal of the renegades ship before it rocketed out of orbit and into god knows where.

The hunter clicked in his strange language to get the humans attention, they had been far too still for far too long, their hands were broken and bleeding from their struggle, blood trickled down their neck from what was left of one of their ears.

_Humans aren't meant for this… _the yautja thought quietly, the youths gaze held nothing within it. This wasn't supposed to happen. Humans were no longer prey, hadn't been for the entirety of his long life.

They finally stirred and looked up at him, their eyes held a cold rage that belied their soft human face, their hand came up to grip his, skin hot and wet from blood.

"If you're going after those bastards I'm coming with you,"

It wasn't a request, the hunter didn't need his translator to understand the tone of their voice. Humans could be, at times, disturbingly yautja-like.

The hunter tilted his head as he thought over their command, if they were yautja he would not have hesitated- it would have been their right to claim vengeance- but this human was far too young for it to be permissible, he also suspected that they had a womb which further complicated matters. Life-givers were inherently precious.

"_HEY!" _the human yelled to get his attention,

The hunter growled and in the human manner shook his head side to side, he had been too slow to find and kill the bad bloods, what had happened here might have been prevented if it weren't for his incompetence. He did not want to be responsible for this young life as well.

But the human's dark eyes alighted with fury and defiance, "_Fuck you! Fuck you! Take me with you! Take me dammit!" _their wet hard fists struck his armor, the hunter felt the impact and chittered in shock even as the human screamed in agony. The pain in that howl dug itself into the alien fiercely, it wasn't just broken fingers that caused their wail, from their ruined throat they screamed all their grief and horror out into the red sky,

"_Don't you deny me my vengeance you ugly son of a bitch!" _

Vengeance.

The hunter closed his eyes and a low growl reverberated from his chest, but the sound lacked any passion, this human would only be half alive until they had ended what began here today. He respected those sentiments.

Clicking in annoyance and casting one glance at the ruined farm he looked down at the human and- quickly- fiddled with the communicator on his gauntlet, a thin recording of the humans voice broke the hot silence between them.

"_Vengeance." _


	2. Chapter 2

Faster than light the salvage vessel _Guinevere_ motored through the void of space, it was over two hundred years old, pieced together with odds and ends and held fast with nothing but space grade duct tape and a prayer. It was hardly able to handle the upgraded rockets that kept it in usable condition, the living quarters were barely that, the inside of the ancient vessel was soaked in the smell of cigarettes, cat dander, and the stale odor of recycled air.

Dag sat naked on a tall metal stool in her bathroom and slathered pink dye into her curly frizzy bleached mohawk with her bare hands. Music was blaring from the ancient sound system, there was the faint jingle from her cats collars as they roamed around the living quarters, and in the background of it all was the dull hum of the news station.

If it hadn't been so noisy Dag might have heard the ships proximity alarm go off, but there was no reason for her to pay attention to it so far out. She was just a single unit garbage collector, nobody and nothing bothered her.

Singing along to the music Dag got up to inspect her dye job in the mirror, she applied more to the back of her hair, a cigarette hung out of her mouth and she stubbed it dead in the ashtray by her sink.

Suddenly the music in her ship went silent, Dag craned her neck to look down the narrow hallway, it was just her on the ship so there weren't any doors and she could see clear all the way through her galley style living quarters.

She saw nothing near her audio system, her first thought was that it had been one of the cats that had turned it off by climbing over it. It had happened before.

Drying her hands off with a towel Dag walked over to start it up again, she was still damp from her shower and the air outside of the bathroom wasn't as humid, the floor was slightly textured linoleum and cold to the bottoms of her calloused feet. Gooseflesh broke out over her skin as she punched in the start button, just as she was walking away however the music shut off again, a faint scowl pulled at her lips and Dag went back to the machine,

"What the fuck?" she muttered softly as she inspected the machine, it hadn't been a cat this time and after a few moments of fumbling she couldn't find any reason for why it was shutting off.

Then, just as she was about to press play again, a strange tinny voice spoke right by her ear.

"_what the fuck?" _

Frightened, Dag spun around, her hands brought up into fists to face whatever it was that had made that noise. She instantly recognized the enormous hunter that stood before her, seeing him after so long didn't seem real until the air vibrated with a soft welcoming purr. Recovering from her shock Dag punched him solidly in the center of his chest.

"_You fucking bitch! That's not funny!" _but Dag was laughing, the hunter too found her reaction amusing, she could hear a trilling sound muffled behind his mask.

Collecting herself from her scare Dag growled through her grin at him in a friendly way, "wasn't sure I'd ever see you again, you big bitch, how've you been?"

For nearly five years of waking time he had taken her from planet to planet to hunt down her families murderers. They stalked prey together, ate together, traveled through the weird and wilds of space and after she had gotten over her fear of him Dag had rarely been far from his side. She called him Shale, shale for his soft and even temper, shale to mimic the smooth trill of his voice, shale for the color of his locs. They'd greyed with age unlike the few other hunters she had met. Just one was pure white like snow.

He was both a welcome and disquieting sight, despite her smile Dag felt her stomach clench tight, he knew why he had taken the trouble to visit her.

Shale finished considering her question and pressed a few buttons on the device strapped to his prosthetic arm,

"Dag"

The voice that came from his mask was her own from a different time, biting back a black flush of loss Dag turned away from the alien and went to get dressed.

"Gotta be a little more verbal than that big guy," Dag spoke stiffly, "you could've at least knocked you know,"

Dag felt a big hot hand rest on her shoulder and she turned around to shoot a sharp look at Shale, he pressed a button on his wrist device and her own voice from what seemed like a million years ago came from the mask, distorted by rage and agony.

"Vengeance"

His living hand clasped and opened in between them slowly, a twitch and his razor sharp claws extended from his fingers like those of a cat, the deep humming trill coming from his throat was a familiar blood-chilling sound.

Dag closed her eyes tightly, the scars on her body and her missing ear burned, memories untarnished by time flared bright in her mind's eye.

"Yeah, vengeance… why the fuck else would you be here..?" Dag sighed and fished around her clothing compartment, "I have a job Shale, gotta do human things, drop off the scrap I salvaged from my last job. After that we can go and kill the bastards, deal?" she slipped on some pajama bottoms and craned her neck to look at him.

Shale tilted his head in the particular way he did when he was thinking, after a moment he gave her two thumbs up.

Dag smothered a small smile as she pulled on a tank top, she felt his gaze when she put on the earring and necklace he had made for her years ago. The long, fang like tusks of three other hunters shined ivory white against her brown skin, she glanced back at Shale standing across from her, his necklace of tusks had gotten longer in the passing years.

Dag walked over to him and casually hooked her finger around the necklace and held it up to inspect, the length was almost to his groin, "Good to see you're still kicking plenty of ass" Dag said admiringly. Shale reached up to smooth her cheek with his thumb before lightly thumping her head. He made a chittering sound of surprise and Dag looked up to see Shale inspecting the bright pink hair dye covering his hand.

Dag laughed, "let me get you a towel," she patted his shoulder and went into her bathroom to fetch one, Shale was still looking at the pink dye on his hand when she offered the towel to him.

Behind the mask she could hear his strange clicking voice, he slowly cleaned off his hand and gave her a sharp growl before tossing her towel back to her. Dag gazed at Shale as he looked around her home, the memories of him burned at the edges of his form.

"You're not gonna eat my cats are you?" Dag called out to him,

There was a pause, then the recording of an unfamiliar human voice spoke, "gross,"

Dag couldn't see Butter or Zoomer anywhere, Nut on the other hand was paying rapt attention to the massive monster from Dags lofted bed.

Sighing, Dag went over to the kitchenette and turned the stove on, the news station and the drip drip of her coffee maker hummed in the background as she heated up a pan and pulled out some rehydrated sausage.

"_-Yutani corporations needs you to carve the way into the last frontier-" _

Dag struck her radio firmly to knock it off of the dead station, news from the confederacy resumed with a crackle.

The sound of meat frying got Shales attention, Dag looked over her shoulder to see him watching her from several feet away, head tilted inquisitively,

"Hungry?"

Shale shook his head and continued to inspect his surroundings, every inch of space was crammed with things Dag had accumulated from a new life, devoid of him and the hunt.

"You gonna tell me where you found them bigass bitches or are you keeping me in suspense?"

The alien didn't disguise his footsteps, appearing beside her he stretched out his clawed prosthetic and opened his wrist device. After several button presses a hologram of a spaceport appeared above her cooking breakfast.

"The Sphere?" Dag looked up at him with a slight frown, "they lost their fucking minds?"

Shale uttered a brief purr and stepped back to allow some space between them, Dag had taught him some amount of hand speech to make up for what his tech couldn't accommodate.

Desperate. Baal sent word. Bad Bloods stole a starglider. Can't find to where.

Dag bit her bottom lip and her nose crinkled as she frowned, "Your folk aren't common there, not a bit, how'd they make off with a ship?" Dag didn't know if it would have been funny or enraging if the aliens that had so cleverly evaded her and Shale for so long had been thrown in the sphere's jail for a minor felony.

Shale chittered at her, his hands deftly forming the words she had taught him so long ago, money had its way.

Harsh bitter laughter came from Dag and she briskly stirred her food, "Good to see the sphere hasn't changed!"

Shale tapped her shoulder to get her attention and began more hand speech, Baal has a scent.

Dag knew what that meant, her flash of pale humor abated and she returned to her cooking, "It'll be good to see them," she said after a long pause. Rubbing her eyes she looked back up at him, "are we going to take your ride or mine this time?" she asked him softly.

Shale firmly pointed one clawed finger at the floor, Dag nodded and stirred her food. It was going to be another forty hours before she docked at the space station and she need to make preparations for unloading her latest consignment.

The food was plated and while it cooled Dag went to wash the pink dye from her hair, contemplating how the streaks of color blooming in the water behaved like blood.

Dag set some bread to rehydrate and settled down with her coffee at her small kitchen table. It doubled as her workspace and where she spent most of her time, from cataloguing scrap to recording the bodies she found in space. She eyed the giant alien sitting across from her as he inspected the latest autopsy paperwork Dag had completed.

"You content to just chill out until I finish this consignment?" Dag asked,

Shales curved clawed prosthetic inquisitivly poked at the holo display of the last body Dag had recovered. She could hear his strange clicking underneath his mask, almost absent mindedly he pressed a button on his wrist device,

"Deal," a male voice gurgled.

The timer beeped and Dag pulled out fresh toast to go with her sausage and tucked in. Shale paid her no mind, too busy looking over grim images of long dead corpses lost in space. Dag finished eating and got up to start getting the ship ready for docking.

Butter skirted by her legs and darted over to her loft bed, Dag climbed up and over into old Gwen's cockpit and started adjusting course to the deep space station. She saw on the ships cameras that Shales spaceship was locked onto hers, matching course and speed, with their exit terminals clamped together. His vessel looked like a tick compared to her giant garbage scow.

"Hey big guy, can your ship go undetected around human tech? The old girl is going to be scanned and inspected when I dock her and no amount of moonshine is going to explain you away to Hutch-"

Dag turned to see that Shale had quietly hefted his tall frame into her tiny cockpit, it was built for two max and despite this he had to crouch almost comically beside Dags chair to look over her shoulder. His glassy black mask faced her with a blankness that was unnerving,

"If you don't have a way to hide your fancy ship I can try to fuck Hutch into not worrying about it,"

Dag heard a surprised chitter behind the mask, I can hide it.

"Thank fuck," Dag plugged in the last of the coordinates and started checking the pressure on the CO2 tanks, "you just saved me from a shame Jesus couldn't wash away," she reclined in her flight seat, eye level with the crouching hunter, "goddamn my humor is still wasted on you," she touched the wrapped metal around one of his grey colored appendages, some were black, but most notably was the one that was solid white. From far away they had the aesthetic of locs but you wouldn't call them that if you looked up close, they were more like snake tails than anything.

Shale reached out and with the tip of a extended claw he tugged loose one of her many tight curls and let it spring back after it had stretched to its limit. Dag gazed at the surface of the mask for several long moments before she reached up to touch the hose that sealed his mask to his head. Understanding, Shale took off his mask and Dag was unable to hold back her smile when she saw his face.

Strange yet startling familiar, the aliens mismatched eyes, one amber and one cloudy with blindness, looked at Dag with what could only be described as amusement, he had more scars than she remembered. Just as when she first saw his face his lower mandibles extended in greeting.

Her hand came up and she ran her fingers over the soft leather like skin above the eye that had been blinded. A pleasant throaty trill came from the hunters throat,

"Did you give whoever blinded you what's good?" Dag asked after a moment, she grinned when his mandibles clicked together in laughter, he nodded and her grin widened, "glad to hear it old man,"

He reached out and gently brushed a scar on her face that bisected her right eyebrow, Dag shrugged, "bar fight, nothing to write home about,"

The grey haired alien stirred the air with his hand speech, Did you win?

Dag snorted, "I beat the guy sure but spent the night in jail for knocking him out flat, there isn't really a win in that,"

Shale growled, the sound was deep and thrummed in the small space without his mask muffling the sound. His weird noises were just as she remembered them, the clicking, chittering, gravelly, and deep rumbling growls that she could feel tickle the bones in her chest. It brought back a lot of memories, not of him but of others like him. The ones she had met that they weren't hunting had regarded her with curiosity, even a controlled playfulness.

This was going to be the longest layover flight in Dag's life.


	3. Chapter 3

"-and then the guy says to me, he says, 'George let's go down to the bar', and I says 'alright', because what the fuck else is there to do around here, so we go to the bar and- hey- hey Dag are you fucking listenin?"

Dag, who had not been listening, spoke into her comm speaker, "Yeah Fisher I'm here," and resumed painting her nails. The Guinevere was sitting in port waiting to be docked and loaded, Dag had already been waiting for six hours and Fisher had provided almost non-stop background noise in an effort to catch Dag up with all that had happened since she had been away. For the residents of the DS-09 space station it had been over three years, for Dag it had been six weeks, but she was still eager to see the people she knew well there.

Shale had already done whatever he needed to do to his ship to make it undetectable, Dag couldn't pick it up on the sensors and that was good enough for her. At the moment he was somewhere on board his vessel which was fine by her as well, doubtful he would have the patience to listen to Fisher describe a different version of the same tired bar story.

Dag leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, her ass ached from sitting in the cockpit and her ears rang with the blunt greasy edge of Fishers voice. Her eyes slid closed and the hum of the Guinevere lulled her into a doze.

Grey sunshine, the smell of dust and sand, the piercing and incessant sound of screaming, and the jarring shock when it stopped. Blood in the air, blood on her clothes, blood the unreal shade of phosphorescent green. It was on her hands, in her mouth, in her lungs, tasting like copper and salt. Bitter. The give of flesh beneath her fists, hardened by microfractures against concrete, her breath like fog as she screamed again and again, mottled pebbled skin submitting to her rage. The sensation hot, slick, insidious.

"_Dag!" _

Snorting awake Dag nearly fell out of her chair, "Huh-?"

"Dag I was talking to you! I knew you weren't listening!" Fisher sounded hurt,

"Fish you tell me the same fucking dumbass story every time I come back to finish a consignment, you go out with a stranger and you either get laid or fucking vomit on yourself," Dag shook the shreds of the nightmare away and checked her hands, the black polish on her short blunt nails was mostly dry.

"_That's not what happened this time Dag!" _Fisher sputtered,

"Okay! Then what fucking happened!?"

"There's a new bartender at the Red Rocket Dag! You came back at the perfect time because she's just your type!"

Dag rolled her eyes, "How do you know what my type is? You said that about the last bartender and he had the personality of a foot,"

She heard Fisher's embarrassed chuckle and she managed a smile, "I mean it Dag, this girl's a real sweetheart, she's even likes cats,"

Dag gave a heavy sigh, "Give it up Fish, I've got a new consignment lined up right after this one, I won't be docked for but a day and then I'm off for another two years."

"Awh come on Dag, I'm getting old out here while you go look for space shit, next time you see me I'll be completely bald."

"I'll think about it after this next consignment," Dag relented, at the very least she could spend a couple weeks with Fish and Hutch and the rest after she and Shale took care of business. That is, if she lived.

"Besides, don't I make you boys look good when we go out?" Dag poked at Fish and heard him growl on the other end of the line,

"That was funny ten years ago, but now I'm worried that the only way you're gonna stop collecting metal crud is if I get put in diapers."

"You'd jump out an airlock before that'd happen,"

"That's if I don't go senile first, shit, Dag your vessels up to dock,"

"_Fuck yes!"_ Dag punched in the auto docking controls and got up from her seat, "I'll catch you at Reds Fish,"

"I look forward to it,"

Dag shut off the comm and plugged in the docking code to her terminal. She had several metric tons of scrap and biohazard material collected in the last nine months. All leftovers from a war that started before she was born, with some luck maybe the bodies would be identified and sent home. If there was one left.

A few quick calls and a meeting to update her progress to the new head of the recycling plant and Dag's consignment was finished, what she collected would be sorted and weighed and in twelve hours she'd take a percentage of what the junk was worth. She got paid extra for the retrieval and care of war victims, not many were willing to collect the dead in the void of space.

Dag got down from the cockpit and got dressed in a yellow biohazard suit before going out to the now pressurized dock to meet one of the stations coroners. Mattie had retired after Dag left last time, so Riddle was new to her, and looked new. The thin man wrinkled his nose at the scent of cigarettes and weed that clung to Dag after she had spent months on end in a flying space can.

"Er… Hello," the greeting was lukewarm and the pale hand that Dag shook was cold, nonetheless she welcomed him into her ship and led him to the biohazard hold. The Gwenivere had nearly been a junker when Dag had first got it loaned to her, once she was able to buy it she outfitted one of the storage bays to be a deep freeze morgue.

The young man had a flat casual briskness to his gaze until Dag opened the sealed door and he took in the piles upon piles of body bags neatly stacked in the room.

"I'm lucky my copier can make biohazard bags, otherwise I would have had to make a second trip," Dag lead him through the door and watched as he stared, dark eyes wide.

"I-I don't know if we have enough room," Riddle looked back at Dag, the shock making his already pale face white,

"Mattie and I always found a way to fit everyone in," Dag rolled up her sleeves and pulled out one of the acrylic gurneys, "keep in mind only a few dozen are whole, so we can load several bags at once if need be," Dag patted the nearest black bag and Riddle made an audible noise of disgust.

"It's irresponsible to leave the dead you collect on your consignments to build up like this-"

"I found all of these people during this last trip," Dag stared at him sternly,

Riddle matched her gaze for a long moment, his eyes narrowed in disbelief and Dag felt her temper spark.

She pulled out her pad and opened it to the ships manifest and tossed it over to Riddle, he caught it, but not without fumbling first. "I have a few tentative ids listed there along with the crew and passenger records, the locations that I found the bodies and body fragments are documented as well. As before with my other consignments, _I am exceedingly thorough,_ which you would know if you bothered to look up my profile before coming here. Now, If you have any questions you can find me at the Red Rocket double fisting some black holes,"

Riddle nearly dropped the tech pad but Dag was already walking out of the morgue,

"You can't expect me to unload all of this!"

"If I can space walk them out of a twisted hunk of junk by myself your lazy ass can manage putting them in the stations morgue," Whatever else he had to say was shut off by the closing of the doors to Dag's quarters.

Infuriated, Dag stripped from her jumpsuit and threw it across the room, how dare that little punk imply she was sloppy. Aggravated, she started pulling out clothes to get ready to go to bar, this might be her last time to see Fish and Hutch and she'd be fucked dumb if that creep was going to ruin it.

The sight and textures of clothing she hadn't worn in ages slowly pulled Dag out of her bad mood, slipping on something see-through and skintight almost banished her soured feelings entirely.

Just as Dag was smearing on eyeshadow she saw Shale out of the corner of her eye,

"It's gonna take the dock workers all night to unload the scrap I collected, I'm going on the station to get together with some friends in the meantime," Dag turned back to the mirror to finish applying her makeup, "I'll be back before curfew," maybe.

She heard him growl softly, unruffled Dag framed her eyes in black, "I'd take you along for the ride but I don't think Hutch or Fish would appreciate being outswaggered at their favorite bar,"

There was a thick pause, the tilt of Shale's head begged an explanation,

Dag sighed and thought for a moment, "I'm… going to… sort of… say goodbye to the friends I have left here, just in case I die killing those sons of bitches. And the way I'm going to say goodbye is by doing what I always do with them, which is go to a place to get very drunk, dance, sing, and spend time in their company. Human stuff."

Behind his mask Shales mandibles chittered softly, he pointed to the makeup items that were resting in the clothing drawer by her mirror.

Dag nodded and gestured to the pile of items in the drawer between them, "Cosmetics, makeup," she then picked up her eyeshadow, "Eyeshadow," and repeated this action to each item in the drawer, watching Shale for any sign of boredom. He however surprised her by showing an innocent curiosity. After Dag had finished listing the items he very carefully picked up a tube of lipstick and held it up to the eyes of his mask to inspect. Dag picked up a different tube and showed him how it opened, and applied the dark color to her lips, earning a sharp click from the Hunter.

"Do you and your folk have an equivalent?," Dag asked as she held up the tube of lipstick. Shale nodded after a soft pause, Dag smiled at the thought and smeared out the black pigment around her eyes to messy perfection.

"There, I'm ready scare everybody shitless," she grinned at the tall alien and listened to his low chittering laughter.

….

Dag was a tall woman without her boots, with them and she was never without them, she was taller than most men. The tattoos on her legs could be seen through the thin shiny fabric of her pants and there was nothing to obstruct the view of the taut muscles in her arms and back except for her black bra. The bar was dark, smokey, old as hell, LED lights older than Jesus stuttered on and illuminated the dance floor as the Dj took over the music.

DS-09 used to be a pretty busy space port, but that was before the company crashed and war broke out, nearly two hundred years later and it hardly boarded anyone further than a skeleton crew of technicians, dock workers, and administration. There was enough people for you to not be cozy with everybody, and just enough new traffic to keep things interesting, but give it another twenty years it'd dry up and young folk would be smart to move on.

Two empty glasses sat by Dag as stirred the third in front of her and sat and waited for her friends to come and chase away her anxious thoughts for the demons they were.

Maybe she'd be better off drinking herself to death right here, the grim thought brought a dull smile to her lips, black in the red violet light of the bar. It wasn't a serious ponderance, but it seemed much less of a hassle than having her spine ripped from her fucking body.

"_Dag! Oh Dag! Why aren't you wearing underwear?" _Hutch's voice broke her thoughts and she turned in her seat,

"Your eyesight's getting shitter with each passing year you fuck," Dag hollered, she spread her legs to show the black thong she was wearing,

"Awh hell," Fish's laugh had grown hoarse with age, both men she had graduated flight training with had gone salt and pepper grey, older than her by twenty years at least by settling down at DS-09. Fish looked mostly the same, tall and thin and freckled, Hutch had gone soft and round and was almost unrecognizable from the weight of the stress of managing this near lawless place.

Maybe she should try to get a job on the station, before it was too late.

"Glad to see you boys," Dag got mooshed in a big bear hug by both men before they sat down, the waitress came and went and drinks started sliding.

"How was the consignment?" Hutch asked,

Dag shrugged, "Interesting," she slurped down the rest of her drink and set the glass down on the table with a clink, "Found a mostly intact engine room and about four floors of what had to have been one of the cargo ships for Yutani, picked it clean of about three hundred bodies before I could scrap it."

"Goddamnit Dag!" Fish put his face in his hands, "You can't keep doing that! Three hundred people?"

"They're my generation Fish," Dag spoke almost too low to hear, "Some of them still have family,"

"But do any of them remember Dag? Not everyone was vacuum sealed like you were, most of the people who remembered them are dead and gone,"

Dag pushed her glass to the side, "It's important that we remember the dead, so that this doesn't happen again,"

At that Hutch grunted, "Everything burns eventually Dag, greedy people don't give a shit about the dead or dying. War will come again and no amount of dead bodies you risk your neck to prying out of scrap metal and broken cryo tubes will change that."

Dag's jaw clenched but she said nothing, Hutch and Fish hadn't seen her in years and she didn't want to spoil it by arguing with them. Finally she said, "It brings comfort to me, that's enough,"

Hutch nodded but Fish shuddered, "I don't know how you can put up with it Dag, space walking _alone? _Just that gives me nightmares."

The thought of having her suit perforated or getting stuck in a ghost ship to asphyxiate was frightening, but there were worst things to feel than dying.

"I'm gonna be alright Fish," Dag looked up at her friends and gave them a smile, "My next consignment will be my last for a while, and I'll be fucked if those folk on my ship are the last I space walk for,"

At that she saw Fish and Hutch smile, their faces lined with years she had missed out on, she and the bar were the only things on this space station that stayed the same.

Hutch and Fish started peppering her with questions about the tech she salvaged and as time passed their conversation slipped into stories of what she had missed out on, who was with who, who was born and who died. Time passed and more people filtered into DS-09s favorite bar, Hutch and Fish started retelling stories of the good ol days while Dag sucked down drink after drink after drink.

The station wasn't so bad, she could settle here, work in maintenance and see Fish and Hutch whenever she wanted to. It would be less dull than manning a garbage scow by herself and sleeping her time with them away in a cryotube.

The red and bright memory of the taste of copper and salt clung to her mouth and eyes, the bitterness unable to be washed away until her mind was pleasantly fuzzed by alcohol and Fish's hand rolled cannabis. There were new people in the bar that night, a science vessel taking shoreleave, Dag got lost in folk her own age on the dance floor. Skin hot, hands soft, the world vibrating with light and music, pain and memory drowned underneath the sticky warm haze.

Fish and Hutch got her back to her ship, piss drunk and hollering the words to old songs, she told them she loved them, profusely, promised to get back safe, and finally crawled back into her ship three hours after curfew had ended.

Dazed and warm and giggly Dag didn't notice Shale crouched aboved her in her cockpit until the false human voice loudly broke the silence,

"Dag!"

Shocked at hearing her own voice she fell over and hit the ground hard, world spinning, she struggled to look up at the crouching figure, "Don't...fucking… scare the shit out of me," she stayed where she was and pulled out a few of the joints Fish had given her, fumbling she managed to light one. Shale jumped down and gazed down at her with a disapproving head tilt. Smoke floated out of Dag's mouth and she blew a big puff of it at his mask after she had managed to stand up,

"Hey man, I said you could watch my movies but you didn't want to, your loss," Dag tried to push past him to get to the bathroom, she needed to shower, no, vomit first, then shower.

Behind her she heard a thick growl that made her hair stand up, holding her joint in between her fingers she pointed at his chest, "go be sexy somewhere else, I gotta hose off,"

Shale, stunned, watched Dag stumble into her bathroom, thick smelling smoke trailing around her head and casting a yellow haze in the dim light. Suddenly she felt her mouth flood with saliva, staggering she made it to the toilet just in time to throw up.

Through the haze a finger prodded her shoulder and Dag sighed wearily, her head floating, cheek resting on cold metal,

Another poke, this one more insistent,

Dag spit into the toilet and flushed it, now her mouth was sticky and foul, licking the film of mucus off of her teeth she turned to look over her shoulder to see Shale crouched by her, his head tilted at her questioningly.

"I'm fine buddy," Dag set her hand on his shoulder and rested her head on the toilet seat, "Too much jack and jose for ya girl that's all," she coughed, tasting hot salt and ash.

"Dag...what the fuck,"

Dag blinked at the combination of words thrown back to her, she moved to try to stand up, "Humans do this all the time, no big deal, I'm fine," she heard a growl which told her that he was unconvinced. She picked up the still smoking joint and wiped her lips before taking a hit, she heard another low growl from Shale before he snatched the joint from her fingers and threw it in the toilet.

"Oh you fuck," Dag snarled at him and was rapped on the head by his boney knuckles for it, irritated she shoved him and nearly fell into the shower door.

"Dag,"

"What!? I'm going to shower! Shower! I'm bathing my filthy body! With water!" Dag cranked on the water and turned to nearly plant face first into the aliens chest,

"I'm _fine, _you big bitch," Dag heartily smacked his firm muscular pec, damn his skin was hot, "I'm _fucked up _but I'm fine," she looked up into the black glossy mask, "Now unless you want to join me, big sexy, I suggest you go back to your ship."

He growled again, this time softer, he placed his big hot hand on her shoulder and gave her a little shake, Dag closed her eyes and smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

When Dag was woken up by a traffic officer screaming at her over the comm to disembark she was still drunk. Naked, sweaty and fuming she scrambled up to the cockpit and punched in the code needed to unlock the docking clamps. Twenty painful minutes later the course to the Sphere was set and Dag could slither back to her bed to quietly die.

Hours later she awoke from a hazy nightmare, sober, hungover, head keening like it would crack in two, Dag felt a shaky moan creep from her throat at the pressure throbbing inside her skull. Time melted.

She eventually mustered the strength to crawl out of bed, grab something cold and full of electrolytes from her food pantry, and stagger to her shower to recover. When she got out, wet and shaky, Shale was there at her kitchen table fiddling with his wrist device.

Dag crawled into something comfortable and finished off her drink, the end of last night had been, fuzzy, but she clearly remembered losing her cookies.

"Dag?"

You are fine? The hunters hands spoke calmly, his black mask was facing her and Dag stared back at it like an idiot,

"Yeah…" she said after a second, "I'll be fine." she walked over and sat down at the table exhausted, "you asking because you're afraid I'm gonna die?"

Shale paused, more hand waving, Just curious.

Dag nodded, "Well, I'm a fine example of humanity for you to study," she went over to the cool pantry and got another drink, "It's gonna take me a day or two until I'm well enough to go into cryosleep, I don't want to wake up when we're close to port sick as a dog."

She heard a thick growl and managed to smile, eyes tired, she set to make something greasy to sop up the rest of the bad decisions left in her stomach lining.

From behind her Dag heard the jingle of one of her cats bells, she turned to see Nut, her black cat with a short tail, walking on her table confidently towards Shale. Dag watched with sharp eyes as Shale perked up and his head tilted inquisitively, Nut sniffed the alien hand before nuzzing it with a lack of self preservation that didn't surprise Dag. Stupid furball had gotten his tail cut off in a vent shaft before Dag had the chance to wall them off with metal grid.

Shale allowed Nut to rub on his giant hand and after a few seconds gently began to pet the soft creature, Dag watched, not knowing if the humanness of his gentle hand should be reassuring or creepy. She turned back to frying her hashbrowns, despite living with him for several years things back then had been… different. She had been a teenager, recently traumatized, and running on the fumes of rage and adrenaline. There had been moments that stretched out into hours when she was not herself at all, still and sightless, frozen by grief. It took so long for her to trust him, to stop flinching at his touch, that she felt safe enough to lay her head on his shoulder and fall asleep to his purr.

Dag chugged down her drink and slammed it into the disposal unit with gusto, she was going to have to program the ship's computer to return to DS-09 if she died somewhere out there.

The jingling became louder and Dag turned to see Shale dangling one of his bone necklaces above Nut and Nut was attacking it with enthusiasm. The other two cats watched from the shadows under Dag's couch, their common sense holding them back as Nut loudly meowed. While Nut tossed and rolled Dag could hear the almost silent clicking and purring coming from the alien, apparently cats were universally enjoyable.

Dag whisked water into her dehydrated eggs and pored the banana yellow mixture over her hashbrowns, she couldn't remember the last time she had a real fruit or vegetable, or anything that wasn't dehydrated. Her earliest memories were of her parents building their farm, eating food she had helped grow, watching the suns rise and set over a blood orange sky, the sounds of the windswept dawn falling away to her brothers voices. Not a day went by that she didn't feel pain for what had been ripped from her.

Never had food looked less appetizing, but she ate it anyway, forcing down bite after bite until she could clean her dishes and try to clear her head.

"Dag?"

She looked up at Shale, his head was tilted in that tell-tale way, she thought about what to say before opening her mouth,

"You curious about where my mind is big guy?" Dag lit a cigarette and heard his clicking voice come before he nodded once at her.

Dag exhaled a big cloud of smoke, "I'll never been who I was before," She said quietly, "I know that this will change me too, whatever happens, I'm going to be different. There are things in my life now that I'm afraid of losing, if I become too different I might lose them." She looked over at the expressionless mask and gave it a tired smile, "Guess that makes little sense to you huh? You and your kind have your own ways of fighting and hurting, guess no matter what happens it doesn't bother you much." Her voice had grown harsh and she almost didn't catch his soft growl.

You will have vengeance. Shale's hands spoke with a controlled grace, You will change. You will be stronger than before.

Dag gazed into her drink before sipping it, "I'm afraid of what kind of human I'll turn into," his kind clearly had outlaws and bad people, like the ones that had visited her farm, maybe the idea of isolation and decay wasn't far fetched to him. Could Shale feel things like apathy or depression? Shaking herself Dag changed the subject, "Worse comes to worse you might be my only friend left to hang out with, might be fun, running around half-naked and killing shit,"

That earned her a firm but friendly growl. There are worse things. He said with a deft flick of his flesh and metal fingers.

….

With a loud thud Dag landed on her back, Shale expertly pinned her down, his warm breath tickled her cheek.

When Dag lived with Shale on his ship during the hunt they had sparred almost daily, today he had insisted on it. Even sick she was able to hold her own, he had taught her a lot, almost as much as her mom had. Dag in turn had showed Shale how she had trained the bones in her hands, feet and shins to become hard enough to break concrete. Micro-fractures to the bone, thousands of them from hitting hard objects, the body repaired these cracks, reinforcing with calcium. Repeated almost every day over her entire adolescence had made Dag's fists unyielding to almost any earthy creature.

Key word being earth, but that didn't mean that to hunters her punches didn't hurt like a bitch.

Shale let Dag up, an almost scolding click coming from his mandibles, his mask and equipment lay on the couch, he'd even taken off his prosthetic arm, the only thing left on him was the little hot pants he and his fellow hunters liked to parade around in.

"You're lucky I feel like dog shit," Dag attempted to hide how shaky she was, exercise was the last thing she wanted to do but she knew she had to loosen up and suffer now or be in a whole lot more pain later on. Last she saw it the sphere was a horrible backwater sort of hell, and wherever the bad bloods had gone wouldn't be much better, smarter to grit her teeth and get it over with.

Dag stretched and breathed to center herself, Shale's hand flexed, his claws were currently retracted, considerate on his part, but why hunters kept them out most of the time was a mystery to her.

Shale moved fast and Dag tucked under his arm and grabbed him around the waist, she used his weight and momentum to land him on the floor, but she was quickly flipped over and pinned down.

She gulped down nausea as the room spun, Shale placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake, "I'm okay buddy," her voice was thin, she shook her head to clear it and he let her up.

They clashed again, Dag went to clamber onto his big frame and used her weight to try to get him off balance, it would have worked if he were human. Instead she ended up sprawled on her back, Shale immediately closed his huge hand around her neck, he gave her a little shake before releasing her. He stood back and dragged a finger across his neck as she frowned at him.

"I'd really like to know who taught you what that means," Dag stood and brushed herself off, "fucking smartass,"

Shale offered her only a series of clicks, Dag cracked her neck and winced, even if Shale was by far the smallest hunter she had met her usual method of overpowering her opponent wasn't going to work, even if she barreled at him with all of her weight. She had thought that since she was heavier now that it might work, hadn't hurt to try, much.

Shale moved towards her calmly and Dag took a step backwards, her eyes glanced around, looking for anything she could use to get the upper hand. Shale took his opportunity and lunged at her, Dag dropped into a split and rolled out of the way. Her feet gained purchase on the ground and she leapt to her cockpit and hauled herself up the ladder like her ass was on fire. She could hear Shale behind her, in a split second she calculated how high she would need to kick to catch his jaw. Dags body tensed and years of training took over, she leapt and twisted in the air, her heel hit home with speed and momentum.

Dag didn't waste time, she jumped and grabbed onto one of the overhanging pipes and caught Shale around the neck with her legs. Before he could untangle himself Dag mimed taking a knife from an imaginary pocket on her pajama bottoms and thrust it into Shales neck.

Shale growled deeply and Dag could feel the vibrations jiggle the flesh of her thighs and all the way into the layer of fat that padded smooth over her stomach,

"Stabby stab, I got you,"

His mandibles flared and he glanced at where her fisted hand was on his neck. Shale took her hand by the wrist and guided it further back, he tapped his finger there, and then he dragged her fist along the underside of his neck right to his leathery throat. His amber and milk colored eyes gave her a piercing stare and Dag was transfixed, her muscles were starting to hurt from holding herself up and she could feel his breath on her stomach.

Feeling warm, Dag repeated the slicing motion and Shale gave her a nod and an agreeable growl. He patted the outside of her thigh in a business-like way and Dag released her hold around his neck and dropped to the floor.

The bones in her legs felt like they were made of jelly, she struggled to stand for a moment before letting herself sit on the floor. What flush of heat that had happened moments before was now drained as her insides threatened to revolt. Giving up completely Dag lay back onto the cold floor and groaned.

Shale crouched beside her and she saw his mandibles flared wide, the tip of his grey purple tongue flicked out to taste the air, he then placed two fingers on her chest right in the center if her breastbone.

"I told you… I drank too much last night," Dag tried to push his hand off but he hissed at her, stunned she lay back down. Clicking in annoyance Shale continued to rest his fingers against her sternum.

Dag knew he was checking her body temperature, he had done the exact same thing the time she had collapsed of exhaustion on the first planet they had tracked the bad bloods to. Back then she had been so out of it she hadn't realized how close to her squishy human heart his hooked claws had been until she had woken up later on his ship. Now all Dag could think about was how he was nearly touching her tits.

Growling and clicking what could only be curses foul enough to curdle milk, Shale got up and leapt down out of the cockpit. Dag breathed a sigh of relief and got up and managed to get down the ladder, once at the bottom a drink similar in appearance to what she had been consuming earlier was shoved in her hand. Nodding at her curtly Shale went about putting his metal arm back on the nub of what used to be his left arm, the skin around it and on his shoulder had been horrifically melted and burned. They were old scars, scars he had grown into, his mandibles twitched only a little when he reconnected the prosthetic to the attachment point to secure it. Giving Dag a stern look Shale pointed meaningfully at the bed.

She felt the urge to apologize and stifled it by taking a drink from the bottle he'd gotten her. She would have been content to go about the rest of her life collecting war garbage and dead bodies, not whole, but content. A part of her resented his intrusion. Another part entirely was confused, something was different than last time, maybe she was more different than she realized.

Dag muttered a hoarse thank you and went without complaint into her shower and sat under the cool water with her bottle of mercy and her thoughts.

What the fuck was she feeling this way when he placed his hand on her chest? Her body had some kind of audacity feeling this sick and horny at the same time.

Dag smacked her head against the wet wall of the shower in utter disgusted with herself. Shale was honorable, he had pulled her from the fire and fixed her broken hands and soul and now he had gotten her to finish what they had started. Even if he were a human being this was neither the time nor the place to be thinking about him like that.

And anyway, who knew what his thoughts _that_ were, Dag had yet to see him actually mad and she didn't want to find out.

…..

The next day Dag felt fine, after eating she pulled out the salvaged junk and scrap she had twisted and welded into wicked looking weapons over the years and showed Shale.

The stuff she had made was suitable for close combat, a mixture of blunt force and razor sharp blades. Shale looked over what she had made, the air full of little growls and clicks as he inspected each piece.

"You'll let me know if anything is useless right?" Dag said as he picked up the aluminum pipe she had riddled with screws, chains, and razor sharp pieces of metal scrap.

He hefted it with his good hand and tested the weight, his mask was off on the table and Dag could clearly see his eyes narrow at her. He was silent for a while, then,

Shale's mandibles flared and clicked. This is a hunt. Dag.

Dag looked him over and tried to piece together what the underlying meaning of his words might be, "Yes," Dag spoke firmly, "and it is revenge."

Another soft growl, Shale took the weapon in his metal hand and pressed one of his living fingers onto the razor blades until a thin line of glowing green blood leaked out. He set the weapon down and gave her a stern look while his hands spoke.

Their lack of honor should not encourage you to betray yours.

Dag's mouth tightened into a harsh line, she almost preferred his usual silence, "It's hard to care about honor when it comes to this, did you think that part of me would change as I got older?"

Shale chittered thoughtfully. Bloodlust can change you more than you think. Yautja abandoned it for honor. For the hunt.

His hands ended his sentence with the sign of peace and he outstretched his living hand, now spotted with glowing blood, for Dag to accept.

There had been moments in the years spent with him that he was as alien to her as his appearance, she couldn't understand how he kept killing things so impersonal when the way he did it was up close and intimate.

Dag stared at his hand for a long time until he moved to touch her face, not in the mood to be pawed at she ducked away and turned from him. She felt his gaze for a long time before he growled, not a particularly menacing sound but enough to trigger the hairs on the back of her neck to stand at attention.

Dag willed herself to look into his eyes and saw something that hurt her more that his inability to understand the hot coal of pain in her chest, disappointment.

"_I'm not like you," _Dag hissed through gritted teeth, fighting back the tearful warble that rose on the cusp of her words, "me and mine haven't had thousands of years to swim in the stars- my brain is still primitive and _stupid_ and I _need him_ to feel every ounce of pain he burned into me." Dag spoke softly, and her voice trembled with every breath. But Shale listened.

After a moment he nodded, and Dags mouth turned into a fragile bitter line, a long silence passed before she spoke again.

"I might have, if those bastards had just hunted us I probably would have done it your way." Dags voice was tight and wet, years of therapy and medication and night terrors balled up tight in her throat, "you only got there after they were done,"

Shale was extremely still, Dag had never seen him look so confused before,

They were not hunting? Shale's hands asked.

A horrible grimace peeled open on her face, Dag's garnet dark eyes were dull with hate, "_oh you could call it that,"_ the words slid from her lips like tar-black oil, the sound left Shale feeling empty, "I'm sure that's what _they _would call it-"

Dag. Shale's hand's spoke curtly, What. Did they do. That I did not see?

Dag told him what the white hunter and his followers had done to her family and for one terrifying moment he froze, still as stone while the room filled with mounting energy. Then, Snarling like a great cat Shale balled up his living fist and punched it through the surface of the metal table.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been several hours since Dag had gone into cryosleep with her cats. Shale had helped her clean up the mangled table after he had collected his composure and then immediately shut himself off on his ship as soon as possible. He needed to sort out what to do before he went into cryosleep himself.

_A warband… those fools went to a human colony as a warband… _

The implications of what they'd done sent his mind reeling, Shale, normally one of still and relaxed composure now paced and clicked in agitation. He was middle aged by his species standards, positively ancient to many others, most things he could come to solve with a level steady head.

But a warband…

Warbands were ancient legends, before the era of heros, before the weight of their world could no longer shackle them to the ground.

His kind hadn't held full scale war amongst themselves in millenia. It was forbidden, dangerous, the purity of the hunt rested on the continuation of life. _All life. _

War was why humans were no longer prey. As a species they were reckless, fearful, and if they found out about Yautja hunting humans it would mean slaughter for his people.

Yautja did not arm their ships for battle, Yautja solved their disputes in hand to hand combat, strictly controlled through codes of honor and valor. Humans did not follow the hunt, they did not have honor, they killed, and they killed by the millions.

The decision had nearly torn his homeworld apart, long held traditions had been upheaved to reclassify humans as equals. It had pained many to smother their pride and admit that the prey they had hunted for so long could no longer be considered as such. But it was decided that in order to preserve their way of life they could not risk going to war, if it came to that they would have to abandon the hunt entirely to keep themselves alive and that was unacceptable.

Shale stopped pacing and sat at the helm of his ship, wondering how Dag could even tolerate his presence after bearing witness to such savagery.

Warbands were not hunts. They were practices from a primitive time, before life and death had balance, before the laws of nature were put above personal gratification. Warbands pillaged and raped and destroyed everything in their path. He had wondered why her gentle home had been ablaze. Now he knew.

Shale thought back to how she had been in the time they had traveled together. Her odd silence and blank stares, the moisture that leaked from her eyes, how she tossed and turned when she slept and woke from sleep without rest.

The ugly brutish weapons she had crafted suddenly made sense, the bad bloods that had come for her and her kin had behaved as humans did in war, so as such they should be dealt with.

Why hadn't she told him? There had been plenty of opportunities, why only now? Maybe she didn't feel strong enough to talk about it, maybe she thought that it would put ideas into his head.

Shale didn't like that thought. Shale didn't like that thought at all.

Though his sexual proclivities were… odd… in the eyes of his people, he was not in the habit or the taste of taking anyone against their will.

This was bad, if the whole colony had been destroyed her species might have discovered Yautja, it could have started a war. His home may well have been turned into a pale desert of radioactive dust. He should have been more diligent in tracking them, but he wanted to wait until Dag was fully grown so that she would be strong enough to kill the white one herself.

_Not prey… there isn't a word for what those Yautja turned into that day._

If Shale had been human he would have called them monsters.


	6. Chapter 6

Aliens weren't so different compared to humans, generally. The ones that breathed some combination of one fourth oxygen to three fourths nitrogen typically had the same basic needs as Dag did.

Eating. Sleeping. Shitting. Fucking was optional but clearly an interest if the bright blazing sign hanging above her was anything to go by.

Feeling a mess from the cryosleep with a stomach churning on dehydrated potatoes Dag slumped heavily against Shale as he leaned on the brothel they were standing under. Dag was familiar enough with this part of the sphere that she could find her way back to Shale's ship blindfolded.

The rain that poured down bit into Dag's skin, sensing her discomfort Shale tucked her against his side a little closer as the black sky above them rumbled.

Dag heard a clicking voice and looked up, squinting against the rain she saw someone calling down to them, female by the color of the scales, masculine by the cut of his clothes, asking if they would like to wait inside.

"Wanna go in?" Dag asked Shale,

He looked up at the scaled sex worker and offered a few clicks in return, Shale turned to Dag and shook his head.

"Where the hell is Baal?" Dag muttered darkly, above she could hear the sounds of the folk inside the brothel, snippets of everyday chatter entered her ear and she leaned her head on Shale's thick shoulder.

The sky rolled with thunder and a brilliant flash illuminated the street, Shale uttered a shrill click and Dag smiled. At least he was enjoying himself.

Music from inside the building thrummed against Dag's head, far off the hum of activity from the central market just crested over the rhythm of the cold rain.

A loud trill from above drew their attention and Dag looked just in time to see a colorful flash dart back behind a curtain, laughter follows and Dag nudged Shale, "Think you got some admirer's big guy."

Shale rumbled with a low purr and his mandibles vibrated with laughter. This one is fine, He gestured. Dag cracked up and her human laughter bounced high off of the shabby buildings around them.

Shale suddenly straightened up and turned his head over his shoulder, Dag leaned past him to see a black furry face eyeing them from around the corner of the brothel, six yellow eyes glowing gold in the grey twilight.

"Baal!" Dag ran around Shale to give the old bounty hunter a hug, Baal stood on her hind legs and Dag was engulfed by a pairs of thick arms and a silky soft fur pelt. The sound of gravelly chuffing surrounded her and filled her with a sense of comfort and safety.

After a moment Dag pulled away and wiped the hot tears from her cold face, She looked up into the lioness-like face of Baal, a tickle of electric energy brushed against her dumb grey meat brain and Baal began to lick her face affectionately.

"Dag? Dag? Let me see Dag," an excited reed thin voice spoke in common mandarin, a human language Dag only knew from her time spent in the sphere.

Dag pulled herself away from Baal's hot kisses to see an old friend quite grown up, She blinked up in disbelief at the spindly blue armoured alien.

"_You're not supposed to be taller than me!" _Dag playfully shouted and jumped to grapple them. The sudden and unexpected joy of seeing them again brought a sudden sob to seize her throat, sniffing, she pulled back to take in Ahhve's grown form. A mane of quills crested their head and framed their face all the way down their back, their cobalt blue exoskeleton flexed to reveal neon yellow leather-like flesh, the face before her was paler in the center and mottled around the eyes and nostril slits with spots. Two wide pupil less ink black eyes gazed at Dag and Ahhve's mandibles stretched to approximate a human-like smile.

"I missed you," they said before planting a lipless kiss on Dag's forehead, of all three aliens surrounding her Ahhve was the most similar to her, not only by age but in cultural customs and personal history. They too had their family slaughtered by the bad bloods.

Dag embraced them again, a few more tears squeezed out, she could have stayed with them and Baal if the sphere wasn't so dangerous for humans. She could count the number of her own kind that she had seen here on one hand, all had been bounty hunters.

Shale gestured a respectful greeting to Baal before the two touched foreheads, Baal was about three times his size, a sleek elegant being with six limbs, six eyes, capable of bipedal and quadrupedal movement. Her kind used vocalizations, electrical impulses and hormonal scents to communicate, other creatures weren't compatible with most of that but that didn't mean Dag and Shale couldn't feel a thrum of electrical energy pass over them from time to time.

As Baal chuffed at him Shale returned the affection by loudly purring, Baal nuzzled his face and Shale gave her a friendly lick on the forehead with his spined tongue.

"Your eye healed well I see," Ahhve spoke to Shale, "You need to be careful not to run into the constable, she is still looking for you after the mess you made,"

Shale grunted dismissively and continued licking Baal's night black fur, her gold eyes were half closed lazily and a tiny peep of a bright lilac tongue could be seen under her wet nose.

As Dag was wiping the last of her tears from her eyes Ahhve covered her with their shawl, "I think we have loitered long enough outside of this establishment," Ahhve looked up at the windows above and waved at the folk watching them with curiosity.

At that Baal shook her massive head and chirped at Shale, she got down on all six limbs, licked her nose and started off down the street, Dag, Ahhve and Shale followed, picking up pace as the rain began to come down harder.

Dag held Ahhve's smooth hand the whole way to the home they shared with Baal, heads turned as the group swept by the different districts, staying clear of the market and several dark alleys.

Ahhve and Baal now lived in a newer district, thunder rolled in the distance as Baal pressed her code into the keybox outside her apartment, Dag swept her gaze around the sprawling city below them, buildings, old and new sat crawling overtop each other. A desperate fight for space on planet all but stripped, mined, and blown apart for materials, the glow of the molten core could be seen at the edge of the sky always and illuminated the thousands of colonized fragments that encircled the sphere. Disparate elements of a thousand different alien cultures clashed and mingled in every street and home. This place was ancient when the aborigines of earth's australia first began to paint and sculpt the world around them.

Once inside the lights turned on and Baal shook the cold wet from her fur before flopping down in the pit of cushions and fabrics that took up much of the floor space, the room was circular and the window was a single seamless wall in itself and gave a vast view of the endless city skyline.

Shale gave Baal a friendly growl and followed suit, Baal paid rapt attention to his trilling clicks and after a moment she chirped back.

"This is a lot nicer than the burrows," Dag said to Ahhve, she watched as their sensitive ears kept in the direction of Baal and Shale while one was trained on her,

"Yes, it is much better," they looked down at her, "are you thirsty?"

"I could use a little moisture," Dag studied the rest of the room, her eyes taking in the pink and mint green walls, the array of houseplants and a few special items she recognized frm Baal's previous home. Human homes in space stations were grey, white, black, and sometimes beige, Dag wasn't used to so much color or greenery.

"How many cycles passed while I was gone?" Dag asked,

Ahhve dipped a clear bowl into the well of water that rested in it's own alcove in the wall, "About thirty," They said softly, "It has been a very long time," they handed Dag the bowl, "I am older than you now,"

"I would think so," Dag muttered before taking the bowl and drinking from it, she would be pushing ninety if she had stayed with them, "Are you super duper old now? like our old man Shale old?" she asked with a teasing smile, from behind her she heard his trilling laughter.

Ahhve bared their sharp blue teeth in a crooked grin, "no, but I am of age if that means anything to you,"

Dag could believe it, Ahhve had grown from a pale spiky periwinkle adolescent to a tall lean dark blue humanoid. Dag delicately reached out to examine one of their many quills, "Are these poisonous?"

"Only if I am frightened," Ahhve gently took Dag's hand and held it, their thin boney fingers traced over hers, "I had forgotten how soft you are,"

Dag muffled a snort,

"Stretchy," Ahhve mumbled as they pinched a bit of her skin.

From across the room Shale and Baal's conversation had gotten more serious, the tone in Baal's gravely rumbles vibrated the floor underneath Dag's feet. Dag looked up at Ahhve and arched an eyebrow, unlike her their ears were delicate enough to decipher Shale and Baal's speech, even if they could not replicate it.

"Baal and I were away on a case when the white one and his followers stole a cargo ship," Ahhve explained, "We returned several cycles after they left, the constable informed us of the theft and Baal and I have been following up on leads since she sent the message to your Shale."

"How long has it been since you sent the message?"

Ahhve tugged out a loose quill, "Almost two full cycles, it has been ten cycles since they left,"

"Damnit!" Dag hissed, "They could be anywhere!"

Baal growled and clicked something,

"Not necessarily," Ahhve placed the quill on the counter, "The ship they stole was a freight carrier, it was slow and the constable was able to send us some diagrams of their trajectory before they reached maximum speed out of the system."

"She just gave you their trail?"

Baal nodded her head before stretching out and resting her jaw and neck in Shale's lap.

"She helps those of us bounty hunters that don't rub her raw, she is doing a much better job than the last one in her position," Ahhve said, "The sphere is safer than it used to be,"

Shale gestured a question in the air. I want to see the star gliders flight.

Ahhve dipped their head to him and went over to the apartments computer terminal and turned it on. While they were looking for the flight documents Dag set the bowl down and shrugged off the shawl Ahhve had given her, she joined Shale and Baal in the blanket pit after slipping off her shoes.

Baal lazily opened her eyes and chuffed in greeting as Dag settled in beside Shale, she reached out and smoothed her hands over Baals velvety head, the six golden eyes drifted closed and her throat rumbled pleasantly.

Shale got Dag's attention by tapping her shoulder and he signed in the air. Baal's voice tickles me.

Dag felt a childish grin touch her face, she continued to run her hands over the massive head of black fur and guilt panged at her. She had all but forgotten the good things that she had left behind here. Her expression clouded and her mouth frowned softly. At the time she left everything in the sphere was stained with the hunt, they had only recently rescued Ahhve and that had brought up so much of her own pain that she couldn't imagine staying.

She needed to be human. Hear human voices and be someone outside of the hunt.

Dag was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice that Ahhve had joined them in the pit until Shale turned on the tech pad he was handed. Baal lifted up her head and torso and began her chirps and clicks that Shale and Ahhve could understand.

Unable to contribute anything Dag closed her eyes,

What would being alive be like without this weight in her chest? What point would there be to her existence once every last one of the bad bloods was dead? Where would she go? She had Hutch and Fish, and there was Baal and Ahhve, could she split time between them? Would she have to choose between rotting of boredom or risking her life to capture outlaw aliens who didn't even know what a human was? How much time would she have left? She had spent so long chasing the white hunter, not caring if she lived or died, that she felt lost and adrift imagining anything else.

This shit hadn't be covered in therapy.

Dag opened her eyes at the sound of Shale's irritated clicking, she looked over to see his mandibles snarled in frustration as the slew of numbers on the techpad's screen. From what Dag could tell it looked like the cargo vessel had departed in a curved pattern, making calculating their possible location that much harder. Dag patted Shale's arm affectionately,

"You'll get it old man,"

He softly growled at her, not even sparing a glance as his metal fingers jabbed rapidly at the coded numbers, not good with math Dag got up to leave him to it.

"Can I see the rest of your home?" Dag asked Ahhve,

"Yes," they got up and straightened the dark fabric of their pants, almost legging-like like in material and function,

"Are the plants yours or Baal's?" She asked as Ahhve lead her down the curved hallway to see the rest of the apartment.

"Baal's," they said simply, "The air here is clean enough for them to thrive, and the moisture is nice for both of us."

They pulled back the curtain that separated their living quarters from the hallway and lead her inside, "Baal prefers the hearth room and her plants, so here is where I sleep,"

"Was this installed just for you?" Dag indicated to the sunken pool of water that took up much of the floor,

Ahhve smiled, "It is very dry in this part of the city, to me that is, so yes, we had to get this built in,"

It was much more humid in here, the walls were covered in a garden of green living things, everything smelled like wet plants after a warm summer rain, a smell Dag had almost forgotten. The pink tinted windows cast everything in a dull rosy golden glow, from outside the city looked warped and hazy from the cascading rainfall.

"Would you like to join me while we wait?"

"Hm?" Dag turned to see them sitting with their feet in the water, Ahhve gave her a look and outstretched their hand, which she took, and let them pull her to the edge of the shallow pool. They waited for her to slip off her socks and step into the warm water, the bottom of the pool was covered in a soft violet moss and Dag smiled at the velvet smooth texture touched her rough feet.

"Did I tell you it is good to see you again?" Ahhve asked Dag, their blue teeth clicking over the ancient earth language,

Dag's grin widened, "Yes you did,"

Ahhve's voice purred in their throat, "Between work and research the only folk I am with are all as old as Baal,"

"Buncha old fogies,"

Ahhve's laughter hissed through their teeth, "More or less,"

Dag lay back on the floor and rubbed her feet over the soft moss, "christ, if this is your bed I don't know how the hell you're going to sleep on my ship,"

"Why would I be sleeping on your ship?"

Dag sat back up, "Aren't you coming with us?"

Ahhve shook their head in the human manner, "I can not, Baal is not well, I want to stay here with her,"

"Isn't well? What do you mean she isn't well?" Dag's voice had an edge to it like panic,

"Lower your voice," Ahhve whispered, "it is not, anything unusual, she is just… getting older. Her bones are not as strong as they used to be, that is all."

"You're worried,"

Ahhve's mandibles pinched into a tense expression,

Dag sighed, "Well, I'm glad she isn't alone,"

"I wish I could go with you," Ahhve spoke softly,

"I'll save a tusk or two for you," Dag flicked her earrings and lay back down on the floor, Ahhve shook their head and combed their fingers through their quills,

"No thank you, you and your Shale can keep your death trophies for yourselves," Ahhve dipped their hands into the water and wetted their face, "As long as they are all dead, that is all I care for, and for you to return."

Dag felt a pale smile tug at the corners of her mouth, "Don't worry about me Ahhve, I'm too fucking angry to die,"

Ahhve sighed and leaned back to lie on the floor next to Dag, the two lay in silence for a time, Dag was still exhausted from cryosleep. The sounds of the city and of Baal and Shale's conversation trickled into the still room, overlapping with the soft patterns of running water from Ahhve's pool.

"Anything interesting happen while I was off being human?"

Ahhve clicked, "Ah, so much my Dag, so much, there was a political coup, a new government is ruling at the moment, but they can't even agree it is a government so they call themselves a 'provisional' government-"

"I meant with you, personally," Dag shifted to look at them, "anything other than growing taller than me babe,"

Ahhve's expression was slack for a moment, "Ah… Well… _me hm?" _they stretched and thought for a moment, "I collect bounties with Baal now,"

"I gathered,"

"Hmph, Baal and I finally tracked down the last of the slavers that kidnapped you,"

That sent a dark shudder through Dag, "_That's good to hear," _

Ahhve hummed softly, "Yes,"

"Are they in prison?"

"Mmh, no, Baal agreed with me that it was not wise to leave any of them alive."

Dag's expression was dark and her jaw hurt from clenching her teeth, after a moment she could relax, "Thank you," she said softly.

Ahhve turned on their side to face Dag, their hand lay on her stomach and Dag's garnet dark eyes met theirs,

"Can I see?"

Feeling the tightness return Dag nodded, Ahhve pulled up the stretchy fabric of her shirt and traced over old faded scars with their clammy fingers.

"You were right, they're still here,"

Dag rested a hand on their spiny flexible mane of quills and lay back, "That's how scars work bud,"

"Do these scars bother you?" Ahhve asked as they traced over the longest of the scars of Dags belly,

"Not anymore,"

Ahhve hummed and said nothing, the two lay there on the warm tiled floor and Dag slipped into a light doze with Ahhve's hand on her stomach.


	7. Chapter 7

Dag jerked awake at the start of a loud noise, both she and Ahhve blinked the sleep from their eyes as sudden sounds flooded into their ears. Through the hallway Dag could hear both Shale and Baal's agitated yelling as well as voices she didn't recognize. Faster to react than Ahhve she darted down the hallway barefoot and threw back the curtain to see a few floating drones and two government enforcement officers facing down her mentors.

The uniforms were different from those that she'd encountered before, yet still memories as black and merciless as the void of space flashed before Dag's eyes. The sight of a wall of weapons firing into a crowd of rioters, denizens of the sphere being arrested and shackled in metal chains, hiding in an alleyway clutching a much younger Ahhve to her chest, both shivering in terror as a team of enforcers took turns beating the one of Baal's friends to death.

The instinct to fight saturated Dag's nervous system and she moved to tackle the nearest officer, a furry quadruped creature, when two thin strong arms wrapped her in a restraining embrace.

"Dag-!"

Dag was beyond Avvhe's soft voice, "_WHAT THE FUCK!?" _she screamed in common mandarin, the furry officer hissed at her and the second officer held up their hand to stop the drones from attacking Dag. They, oddly enough, were human.

"_Wait! _This is a general arrest! There is no need for violence!" the human's authoritative tone pierced Dag's ears in common mandarin.

Shale's gravelly voice made the human officer jump as he hissed a sharp clicking response,

"I- yes, I understand that this is abrupt and I apologize-"

Before they had time to finish Shale jumped out of the pit and landed right in front of the small human, growling he chittered something at them, whatever it was made their face go pale.

"Yautja are hard to miss, sir," they spoke with a even voice despite the more than two meter tall alien staring them down, "especially one with your… _reputation… _of mingling…" they coughed and took a step back.

Dag had stopped straining against Ahhve's vice-like grip, her brown face was pallid with nerves, the unwanted intrusion of memories from moments before still smoked on the edges of her senses.

Hissing, Shale looked behind his shoulder at Baal, she snorted and chirped something that sounded decidedly testy to Dag.

"I apologize," the cold human officer repeated, "However I am under strict orders from my superior, the warrant for his arrest has been out for almost seventeen cycles,"

Shale's hissing increased in pitch and signed to Dag. Be calm. I need to go with them.

"_Go? _Have you lost you fucking mind Shale?!"

"Dag-" Ahhve began to speak but was cut off when Baal walked over to the two of them and cupped Dag's face in her three fingered hands and gave her a gentle lick on the cheek.

Shale snapped the fingers of his living hand to get Dag's attention. I'll find a way to break out of their prison before the end of a lunar cycle. No worries.

Dag could only stare at him, Shale had gotten in plenty of trouble before, but the sphere's prison system was something few survived to see the end of. Lord only knew how long he would be expected to stay there.

Beside her Baal growled something and the human cocked their head to the side, "The constable, why?"

Baal chuffed and her low clicking words thrummed in Dag's chest, the soothing presence of Baal's warm flesh padded hands had calmed her considerably, enough that Ahhve was not holding her as tightly as before.

"If this is true then I don't see why not, but only you," She eyed Dag and Ahhve, "I can't have a parade following us around."

Baal dipped her head and let Dag go, she gave a kissing blink to both her and Ahhve before slipping gracefully out of her front door, the furred officer followed and Shale gave Dag a thumbs up before slipping on his mask and letting the drones shackle him and following suit. The human gave Dag one last look before exiting the apartment and the door shut behind them.

Quiet stress settled in as the endorphins in her system slowly ebbed away,

"_I should have kept my mouth shut," _Ahhve hissed, "I spoke of her and sure as dawn she came to take him!"

"As if any of this is your fault Ahhve," Dag looked down at her hands, she had clenched her fists so tightly that clear crescent moon indents in her palms were visible, "Do you know what the warrant was for?" Dag could imagine that Shale had gotten tangled into any amount of mischief, he seemed to have more impulse control when she was around.

"Gah, it must have been when he had that _stupid _fight with one of the city watchers, Baal told me that it had been a wrestling match taken too far, the watcher did not like losing to someone half its size apparently," Ahhve was quiet for a moment, "I remember when Baal brought your Shale home, it… is not a pleasant memory,"

Dag's mouth was a still line, "Did Shale kill them?"

"Almost," Ahhve exhaled and Dag watched them walk over to the large window and lean against it, "your Shale will be fine," Ahhve said, "No one died and the watcher hurt him first, the provisional government is much better than the one before, I am sure he will be fine."

Made sense considering Shale's rather lax behaviour about being arrested, but Dag still worried. She wanted to ask what they were going to do if Shale was imprisoned, but there would be no answer of any kind until Baal or Shale or both came back. Dag picked up the tech pad to see how far Shale had gotten in his calculations, she quickly gave up trying to decipher his way with numbers and tossed the pad over to Ahhve.

The blue alien joined her in the pit and scrolled through the numerous calculations while Dag watched, "I can not make sense of this," their face scrunched into a frown before they set the pad aside, "It may be of use if I could read his letters."

Dag hummed, she could recognize a few words here and there, but the syntax was completely scrambled to her.

Outside beyond the glass wall the clouds had peeled away to reveal the night sky, a thick purple haze that burned with the glow of a billions city lights.

"What the fuck are we supposed to do now?" Dag asked aloud in the empty room.

Ahhve clicked their teeth and sighed, "Well, what do… humans do when there is vacant time?"

Dag snorted, "Get fucked,"

Air whistled through Ahhves nostrils as they sighed, "Ah, let us go get fucked then,"

….

In a place as diverse and bright as the sphere not much could catch the locals attention, without Baal or Shale with them Dag and Ahhve blended into the crowd easily. Things were cleaner than Dag remembered and the pathways were absent of any homeless, this worried her until she asked Ahhve and they explained that there were now places for one to lay their head if they were without.

Dag could still pick out the painted gang signs and hear loud boisterous speech in every conceivable tongue around her, every now and again she caught sight of some mischief, a pickpocket, a fight, the sound of someone urinating in an alleyway. Music blared loud and the smell of cooking food saturated the southern districts. The familiar sounds of the only place she could still call home.

Ahhve lead her quickly through the streets, and where it was too crowded they climbed and scrambled, leapt, and wove through the tops of buildings. The rhythm and life of the city returned to Dag with a familiar heartbeat, humans had nothing like this, space stations were cramped living and colonies had more in common with what was left of the barren earth than the sphere. Everything was alive here.

Hand in hand Ahhve and Dag finally reached their favorite watering hole, Dag was sweating from the humid air but her face was smiling, "How the hell are we going to walk all the way back if we're busted?"

Ahhve laughed, "We come here to make marry, not become senseless Dag,"

Grinning Dag shook her head, "I've never been to a bar in the sphere, anything I should know?"

"Listen to what little common sense you possess," Ahhve's teeth clicked close to her ear and Dag playfully swiped at them. She wanted nothing more than to forget about Shale being arrested or the concequences thereafter, she was bursting to get into the bar.

Suddenly from the inside of the ramshackle pink building a joyful howl rang out and the booming music grew louder, Dag was already moving to the beat, excited, she took Ahhve's hand again and the two of them went inside.

The first thing Dag saw was the live band playing, a mixture of electronic instruments and some classically crafted pieces were mixed in the arms and appendages of the musicians, to the side of all of them was a brown furred humanoid, their seven fingered hands deftly played a bell instrument while they sang in a language Dag could only understand fragments of.

The place was dimly lit with rainbow lights, instead of seats there were lounging areas surrounding low tables on which there were hookah-like instruments, the bar was on the opposite wall of the stage and dividing the whole building was a boisterous dance floor.

"I come here when I want to feel my age," Ahhve spoke loudly above the noise,

Too enamoured taking in the sights and sounds around her Dag nodded without looking at them, "I love it!"

"Come here," Ahhve guided Dag toward the bar, they hailed one of the bartenders and turned to her, "Let us see what you may consume," their blue toothy smile set a shot of warmth through Dag, like she had just knocked back a shot of whisky.

As she waited Dag looked out over the dancefloor, admiring the array of species mingling, some she recognized but most she didn't. The singer on stage was wailing away in time to the beat, their amber eyes flashed in the dark and sparked as the bells chimed with the music.

"Here spit on this,"

"What?" Dag turned to see Ahhve handing her a clear dish,

"Spit, she needs to see your genes,"

"Oh! Right- sorry," Dag promptly spit in the dish and handed it to the elegant insectoid bartender and watched her plug the dish into a gene unraveler next to the wall of drinks and vapors. Across the bar Dag could see a few individuals passing around a pipe that puffed out purple smoke.

"Here," the bartender poured a small thimble of clear liquid into a vial which she capped and displayed to both of them, "this one cannot drink much of anything here, except for water," she indicated to Dag, "This can be shared at one of the pipes if you are both in agreement."

"What does it do?" Dag asked excitedly,

Her green eyes flicked over to Ahhve, "For them? It is a mild depressant, for you? Likely much of the same, might be a bit of a hallucinogenic. If that is not your preference I can offer something else,"

Dag looked at Ahhve and they nodded, "You judge my mood well," they took the vial and gave the bartender a palm-sized silver disc,

"Thank you," the bartender tapped the disc on the bar counter and crept over to help the next customer.

Dag ran over to one of the free pipes and sat down with Ahhve, the lights already made her feel light and warm like the pulse of a sugar rush, Ahhve inserted the vial into the based of the pipe and it light up with a soft glow.

"Would you believe me if I told you I just got better after being hungover from my goodbye party?" Dag said as she unhooked the tube hanging from the machine,

"Oh-? You were ill?" Ahhve sounded worried but Dag was too busy breathing in the pipe smoke,

"Mhmm," it tasted like caramel popcorn, sticky, "Yeah, had to say goodbye to my flight school buddies, I didn't tell you about Fish and Hutch did I?"

"No," Ahhve said softly, "Did you tell them why you were leaving?"

Dag exhaled the rest of her breath, "You thick? Hell no. No human knows who I really am," she took in another small breath of vapor, "fucking, stupidass company war, assfucked goddamn near all of the records we had, not just of our present but the past too." Dag was quiet for a long moment before speaking, "It's like the library of Alexandria again all over again Ahhve… barely anything is left…"

Ahhve's dark glassy eyes were focused on Dag's sobering expression, "AL...ex...an-dree-Ah?" the blue leathery skinned alien sounded out the name of the long dead city in her native tongue and Dag had to clench her jaw tight to keep hot tearwater from rising in her eyes.

"I'll tell you about it sometime Ahhve, promise," Dag sucked in another big puff and blew out a thick white cloud of sweet smelling vapor,

"Promise?" they leaned forward with curiosity brimming in their eyes and Dag considered for a moment before pressing her lips to the opening of their boney mandibles.

"Pinky promise," Dag said back, lifting her pipe to toast Ahhve before she leaned back onto the soft floor of the bar.

Time passed and music swirled just like it had back at the red rocket, Dag sank further and further into a vapor induced haze until the only thing she could think about was the moment.

And the moment was glorious.

When she was on the dance floor with Ahhve the music vibrated through her body, sometimes with such strength that she felt like her teeth would chatter together. Chords and melodies rushed up and down her spine and through her ribcage, Dag was delirious with it. For one small blissful stretch of time there was nothing but the sound, the red electric ache of her limbs and the sweat on her brow.

Moments of time ebbed and flowed like the tide, episodes of blackness clashed with seconds of sharp clarity.

Her pink hair clinging to her skin, the sensation of another's body pressed to her, too big to be human, too much hair, and the sharp acidic smell of musk. A blink and a swirl of color and she was with another, lithe and vaguely feminine, the melodic voice in her ear spoke her language and whispered temptations that made even Dag blush. A second later she was sharing a pipe with someone she didn't know but would remember forever, their grinning smile would come to haunt her nightmares for years to come if she lived long enough to dream.

Then like magic she was swirled up in Ahhve's embrace, slick with sweat her muscles pulsed with a sweet ache, her hands clung to their shoulders and she had to crane her neck to look up at them. Deep blue armoured scales faded into pearly aqua smooth skin, speckled with flecks of blue, their ink black eyes reflected every color that surrounded them, radiant.

"_You look like a galaxy Ahhve," _ Dag laughed, giddy and lightheaded, her limbs were numb and tingly, and she sighed when Ahhve spun her in a circle,

"We should go home," they murmured into her soft frizzy hair, Dag could feel their mandible move as they spoke. Dag only hummed a gentle reply before Ahhve wove the way through the bar towards the real world.

Outside the sky was still hazy purple but the streets weren't as crowded, not that Dag really noticed, she was too busy dancing with her hand entwined with Ahhve's. Floating on a cloud of cotton thick vapor, dizzy and sweetly sore from hours of dancing.

Unsteady and lagging behind, Ahhve eventually plucked Dag off of the ground and carried her the rest of the way, patiently letting the drunk human sing to them as they climbed the stairs all the way to the door of Baal's home.

"Were you like this when you said goodbye to your Hutchish?"

"Fish _and _Hutch dude," Dag was set to her feet and heard the door close behind her, "And no, I was way, wayyyyy worse my buddy, my guy, _Mi hombre," _

Ahhve, who was sober as a nail, looked over the gently swaying Dag and steadied her, "Did you have fun?" they asked as they bent down to take off Dag's shoes.

"_Si," _Dag leaned against them tiredly, "You know I missed you right?"

"I should hope you missed me," Ahhve chuckled, their throat making chrisp clicking sounds that vibrated over Dag's skin,

"You know I love you?" Dag said, a click and her shoe was off and Ahhve was working on the other one, "Right? You know that? That I love you and Baal and Shale? You know I love you guys?"

"I have great affection for you too Dag," Ahhve finished with her other shoe and looked up to see her face, their black eyes for the first time were hard for Dag to read and she had the sinking realization that whatever was in that vapor was fading fast.

Silence riddled needles all through the heavy pause as Dag chewed on what she had just blurted out, Ahhve's glossy black stare only held her own, infinitely alien, yet the same.

"I am not upset with you for your leaving Dag,"

Ahhve's words hit Dag right in the center of her chest and in a moment she crumpled as the answer to the question that she had been holding on her lips was given to her. Dag threw her arms around Ahhve's neck and held them tight, not minding the pinch and prickle of their quills,

"Your state of mind is as clear as starlight," Ahhve said to her as they returned the hug.

"Shut the fuck up," Dag sniffed,

Moments passed, in a heartbeat of the tight embrace Dag felt like she was about to explode, then a brittle sense of calm overtook her and she untangled herself from Ahhve's thin limbs.

"I'm a goddamn failure." Dag gasped, face wet and eyes already rimed with pink,

"Tell me what happened." Ahhve spoke gently, taking her hands in theirs and walking her through the curved hallway like before.

"Back on my ship, I showed Shale some of these weapons I made, fuck, stupidest thing I've ever done Ahhve, _the way he looked at me," _Dag was hiccuping, fat hot tears beaded down her brown cheeks, her pink hair still clung to her skin from the bar.

Ahhve pushed back the curtain into their room, the lights on the walls began to glow, the light dimmed by the hanging plants, outside the sky rolled with dark purple smog.

"How did your Shale look at you?" Ahhve asked.

Dag wiped at her face, "I made this nasty mace thing, he looked at it- and then he looked at me- _he was so disappointed." _

Ahhve's liquid black eyes slowly blinked and they sat down by the pool, their arms outstretched and Dag took them and let herself be led fully clothed into the warm water.

"And you think that means he feels less for you?" Ahhve cupped her face and wiped her tears away.  
"Maybe," Dag almost bit her tongue in bitterness, "Maybe he thinks I'm just like them."

"That is a lie." Ahhve smoothed back her pink hair, "believe the truth I speak, you are, too good, to ever be like them."

Dag closed her eyes, "I don't want to leave you and Baal again," her face twisted into a frown, "All I can think about is what I'm going to lose if I die- _it wasn't like this before! I'm a coward," _Dag hissed through clenched teeth, she swayed where she stood and sat down in the pool fully clothed, the water just came up to her chin.

"May I say something?" Ahhve kneeled down and sat beside her.

"Please."

"I am so proud of you," Ahhve reached out and touched her shoulder, "Despite losing everything, you still have the courage to love."

Dag looked at them for a long time, her sight was blurred with salty bitter tears. Slowly she nodded, "Feeling things is bullshit."

Beside her Ahhve gurgled a bubbly laugh.

"Am I being dramatic?"

"I do not think so." Ahhve said. "I would be worried if you were not feeling unpleasant emotions, in light of the circumstances… that would be… most unnatural…"

"I think I'm just tired right now." Dag whispered, a sigh wheezed out of her. "You're right though, if I was like them Shale would just kill me."

Ahhve grunted, "it is good you see that."

"Still feels like he hates me."

"Mhm, talk to him."

"Ew, about my feelings? Gross."

Ahhve sucked on their teeth and splashed Dag who croaked out hoarse laughter. "I am hungry so I will be getting food. Do you want anything, stupid?"

Dag groaned as she toed off her soggy socks. "Yeah, whatever it is I want a lot." underneath the haze of vapor her stomach grumbled and her achy limbs plused.

"You will not drown while I am in the other room? You small baby? My small stupid baby?"

Dag stuck her tongue out at Ahhve and let rip a loud raspberry. "I'll be too busy farting all over your bed."

Ahhve snorted and their high pitched clicking laughter rang in the room. Dag blew raspberries at them the for each step they took to get out of the room, laughing as they went.

Once they were gone Dag stripped herself of her clothes and set them out of the water on the rim of the tub, Ahhve's clothes were completely water repellant unlike hers.

_Am I taking a bath right now or am I in a bed? They said this was their bed right? _Dag blinked, _How am I going to get my clothes dry? _

Because of the lingering effects of the vapors the soft pelt of moss underneath her felt like it was vibrating against her skin, the feeling was so pleasant Dag's eyes began to slide close.

_Christ what am I doing? Crying all over the place and everyone… what is wrong with me? What am I not dealing with? _

Dag took a moment to breathe. Exhale, inhale, slowly, counting down from ten until she felt a little calmer.

_What was it that I said? I don't want to leave? Yeah I don't, Ahhve said Baal is getting older, what if I never see her again? What if this takes too long, too much time? What about Hutch and Fish? I love them too but… they don't really know me… they don't know everything… _

Tired, Dag sat up and combed water through her frizzy hair, her fingers getting caught and stuck in endless snarling knots. Giving up she lay back down in the water,

_I'm too tired for this… I don't know what I want… fuck. _

Thinking she would rather be unconscious in her cryotube Dag slipped off into a brief doze until Ahhve came back into the room and the sounds of their footsteps woke her up.

"Food will be delivered soon," they sat at the edge of the pool and dipped their legs in near Dag,

"I thought you were going out to get it?"

Ahhve gave her a look, "With you in my bed? Fuck off."

Dag made a rude noise, "Where'd that mouth come from eh? Saucy," she splashed some of the water around, "You really sleep in this?"

"I drain the water before I go to sleep," Ahhve flicked some at her and ran their fingers through their quills.

Dag ran her sore rough feet over the velvet moss, "Sorry for freaking out on you,"

"_Shhhhh,"_ Ahhve sighed, "You were not here for my puberty Dag, I 'freaked' too, you are entitled to scream you realize."

Dag blinked, "You sound like my old therapist."

"Mmh? Then they must be a wise one." Ahhve leaned down to lie along the edge of the pool and to look down at Dag, "anything else you want to talk about?"

Dag sighed, "I think… ugh… hmm… I think you telling me you weren't coming threw me for me a loop," She moved to look at them, "I guess… I didn't think about you or Baal ever… ending… it scares the shit out of me."

"I am sorry."

"Be honest, is she dying? Because if she is I won't go."

Ahhve blinked and it took a moment for them to piece together a sentence, Dag saw their mandibles widen in shock, "I… no, no she is not dying, she is just… older now. We can not afford to hire someone to custom make a harness so she can not go on trips through space anymore, the gravity changes that happen in flight descent are dangerous to her spine. But no, she is not dying," Ahhve rubbed at their eyes, "I apologize, I should have explained better..."

"It's okay, it's making me think about things that I've been putting off thinking about," Dag began to pick at her nails, "On the one hand I'm glad I went to flight school because otherwise I'd be way too old to go kill the bad bloods… but on the other hand I think I was just running from my problems by leaving…"

Ahhve made a dismissive noise, "Depends on the point of view, at the time it was dangerous for you to stay, and you had somewhere else to go."

"Would you have left if you had somewhere?"

Ahhve made a soft humming sound, "Probably… but… ah, I would not be me if I did, and I like me, so I am happy as I am," they looked down at Dag, "Do you like you?"

Dag thought for a moment, "sometimes," she answered.

Ahhve smiled at her, "I like you," they kissed the top of her forehead softly, "I find no faults that are not charming."

Dag snorted, "You're just saying that because I didn't barf on your stuff."

"Delightful, how about you get your sweaty body out of my bed and take a bath, hm?"

"Oh shit-" Dag scrambled out dripping wet, "Fuck- I didn't mean to-" She stopped talking when she saw that Ahhve was laughing, sucking her teeth she playfully pushed their shoulder, "Where's the bathroom then? You ass."


	8. Chapter 8

Shale was leaning back against the waiting room wall with Baal's large furry head resting on his thigh, his mental arm was slung casually around her thick muscled neck. Aside from a shivering plant creature and a human man missing most of his fingers they were alone. Shale sighed and tasted the stale air with his tongue, he was bored. This wasn't the first time by far he had to sit and wait around for another species to get whatever the hell it was they needed together to address some kind of rule he'd broken. He wasn't perfect, fine, his way of life wasn't for everyone, to be expected, mistakes were made. Shale had gotten used to waiting.

After another hour or so the android that had arrested him entered the room, "The constable is ready for you,"

Baal snorted and got up and stretched, Shale stood and went towards the door,

"Ah- just you- uhm, sir,"

"I think my wife is entitled to come with me." Shale clicked,

The androids human face twitched, "You… hadn't mentioned-"

"No one asked." Baal growled, "can I come or not?"

There was a pause and Shale could almost smell the gears whirring inside the plastic head in front of him, "No, this is only a casual meeting with our Constable, I assure you nothing said will be taken down on record," they spoke calmly, cold clever eyes darting from Shale to Baal.

Shale gave the pale android a long sour stare before he shifted to Baal with a much softer expression,

"Play nice," Baal growled playfully and gave Shale a sound smack on his ass, loud enough that the gruff looking human in the corner choked on a snort of laughter. The android's eyes widened as Shale let out a trilling growl and displayed the entire length of his tongue to Baal before gesturing to the android to lead the way.

Embarrassed, the android officer lead the way down the hall and to an open room where many different individuals were working, either separately or together, talking and arguing over tech pads.

"Welcome to the new department." the android gestured over to a desk on the far right where an imposing lithe figure sat, nodding to Shale they left back the way they came. Shale's mismatched eyes looked over the homely looking office space full of sphere licenced detectives and enforcement officers. Not a trace of the old authoritarian building could be picked out of this quiet professional space, hard angles had been shaped into much softer ones.

Looking distinctly out of place and archaic wearing traditional yautja armour Shale went over to the individual the android had pointed out. Sitting at a floor desk a praying mantis-like alien was brooding over a large tech pad, a cup of fragrant tea stained the air with a spicy flavour and Shale flicked his tongue out to taste it before he sat down across from the constable.

Without looking up or ceasing to type she spoke in a voice like cold glass scraping over stone, "I appreciate you coming here all nice and sweet-like," her long thin clawed hands moved in a swirl of pink, "it ain't often I meet one of you and it's usually at the wrong end of somethin' sharp."

Shale felt a twinge of embarrassment, "those that blaspheme are a rowdy bunch."

This got the sleek pink alien across from him to utter a rapid flutter chuckle, "the warrant for your arrest is goin' on some twenty cycles old now, otherwise you don't cause trouble in my port and that' to my liking. Now you know tha' some of your 'blasphemin' kin fight in the rings down here to make bank offa gamblers aye?"

"Aye…" Shale's click was butter smooth.

The look on the Constable's face was calm but serious, "Now, can you do me the favor of tellin' me what in the fuck this is?" she pulled up an image on her tech pad and showed it to Shale.

Shale looked up at the Constable and then back down at the image, his eyes flicked up again to match her iridescent gaze, the Constables pink jaws twitched into a smirk, "I'm gonna cut you a deal here, help me stop the yautja trafficking these things and I'll wave your assault charges. Call it… community service,"

Shale closed his eyes and hissed, the ghost of his left arm twitched "Where was this found?" Shale clicked slowly.

The Constables clear eyelids blinked, "In an abandoned building a few days ago, me and my team went in there to shake down what we thought was just another fightin' ring and beheld that mangled mess. Yautja DNA is in its genetic make up so I guessed the first one I came across in my port would know something about it."

"_Oh you guessed?" _Shale rattled his click sarcastically, "the gills on it ain't enough of a hint?"

The Constable gave him a hard stare, "What. is. it?" her jaws snapped harshly.

Shale looked down at the tech pad and stared at the picture for a long time, slowly, he began to speak.

"These creatures… have existed in my culture for thousands of years, they were used as part of a coming of age ritual, I was one of the last of my generation to experience this ancient rite." Shale manipulated the tech pad screen to get a closer look at the alien lying in a acid burnt hole in the ground, "We have no idea where they came from… or even how we found them, that knowledge is so ancient that it is lost to all but the stars." Shale set down the tech pad on the desk, "my society changed and they were culled, I have not seen one in almost three hundred cycles,"

The Constable clicked her jaws thoughtfully, "How'd the yautja DNA get in there then? You all fucked these things or somethin'?"

That pulled a growl out of Shale that rattled the desk, a few pairs of eyes glanced over at them as Shale bristled, "It's part of their _unnatural _life cycle," Shale hissed, "They aren't from nature, scan their DNA and see that it's without flaw. Whoever engineered these creatures made it so they can only reproduce by copying part of their genetic information from a host body, _they're fucking parasites._"

That brought the Constable to be still, "Parasites?" she said coldly, "like- live in your ass squat in your heart make baby food out of your brain parasites?"

"More so… they gestate in the stomach… and then crawl up your throat and burrow out of your chest. Rather explosively if memory serves..." Shale's voice rumbled softly, "If one hard meat that isn't sterile escapes into the city the whole sphere is _fucked." _

The constable was still and quiet for a brief moment, then a wall came down around her eyes and the cold of her voice turned glacial. "Are they a sentient species?" the Constable asked, "Can they-? Are they like us? Can they learn? Can they have culture?"

"No," Shale said, "They are only very clever animals, they live in hives, the strongest becomes capable of making eggs, but they are unfertilized, only clones, until the embryo is placed inside a host and develops." Shale shifted uncomfortably where he sat, "these creatures need to be culled, they destroy everything in their wake, they kill everything for food or for brooding, the nests they make kill plants and make the soil beneath toxic, their excrement and blood poisons the waters and make them foul."

The Constable whistled through her alabaster teeth, "Fuckin' beautiful. Wait here, I need to make a call," She stood on her six legs and briskly made her way over to one of the doors opposite the room.

The buzz and energy of the office space hadn't changed but Shale felt cold. He gave the tech pad one more look before turning it over so he didn't have to see it.

Some minutes later the Constable came back, her cold stern demeanor hadn't changed, "So, can I count on you to assist my investigation?"

"As an arbitrator of my kind it is not only my duty but my right to cull these beasts," Shale stood and bowed his head to her. When he straightened he beheld the momentary expression of surprise in the slack of the Constables jaws.

The Constable blinked and shook herself, "You have my thanks,"

"May I ask something before I am dismissed?"

The Constable nodded,

"My partner who accompanied me here will likely wish to be involved, have you any protest to that?"

"None," the Constable's cool tone cracked as she gave Shale a friendly click, "Except that they're yer partner," batting clear eyelids at a stunned Shale she dipped her head in a polite gesture of farewell, "Expect some communications in the next day or so, we are close to pinpointing the next location to raid,"

Nodding to her stiffly Shale made his way back to the waiting room with as much nonchalance as he could manage.

Baal had been in the middle of conversing with the shivering plant entity when Shale returned, Baal whispered something to it and after a moment joined Shale as they made their way out of the station.

"Well? Are you arrested? Have you a fine to pay? Must you write a letter of apology and kind will?" Baal was in a good light humor and Shale absentmindedly reached out to rest his hand on her back.

"A great shame of my people has taken root here," Shale's voice sobered Baal considerably and she slipped closer to him as they walked.

"What shame my dear?"

Shale twitched, his amber and milk cloudy eyes narrowed, "Before the hunt was cleansed my people used other races to breed what was exalted as 'the ultimate prey', not long after I reached maturity this practice was stopped at great expense. I believed these creatures destroyed, yet it seems they have found their way here. Likely through blasphemers of the true hunt, still practicing the corrupted ways and fighting the hard meats for money and glory."

Baal's yellow eyes flashed in the dim light of the evening stars and purple smog, "That is fascinating, yet what does this have to do with your arrest?"

Shale flicked his tongue to taste the wet city air, "I help get rid of these creatures and they'll wave my charges."

"Sounds fair," Baal glanced over at Shale's expression and she rubbed her face against his affectionately, "Why then are you so troubled?"

Shale growled and scratched off some muck from his metal arm, "You are mistaken."

Baal stared at him until he would look her in the eye, mandibles twitching he hissed, _"I don't know what to make of this!_ My people are private! Very few of us seek to practice the old rites and those that do don't act like this, the hunt is _sacred!" _

"As you've said,"

Shale was quiet for a long moment, "Much has changed… since I was young… certain… decisions were made to preserve the hunt, Yautja as a whole had… lost our way. Coming back to the spirit of the laws our ancestor laid down… _did not go over well with some... " _Shale clasped one of the many charms that was woven into his gills, a bead carved from the bone of one of his siblings, "The society of my homeworld fractured, many left to settle new worlds to practice the hunt as they saw fit."

"And you hunt down the most egregious transgressors, that you've told me, are you sure that this is connected to the cultural fracturing of your people?"

Shale's mandibles flexed tightly, "to not consider it would be… nearsighted… at the very least one yautja gave their life to spawn a hard meat."

Baal thought for a moment, "Are you sure nothing good can come of these creatures?"

Shale huffed and made a slicing motion in the air with his hand, "Their flesh makes a fine armour, that is about it,"

Baal nodded, "How are you doing?"

Shale flicked his tongue out again to taste the air, "frustrated and embarrassed, our _wise elders _would rather let its authority be disgraced than be bothered to set up a damned embassy, fucking- makes more sense to them to let our garbage cull what it can of the galaxy." Shale's claws flexed in irritation, "Something like this shouldn't be my damn mess to clean up, I hunt ones that profane the spirit of the hunt, not blasphemies of nature."

Baal waited until Shale was finished with his ill-tempered hissing to lick his domed forehead, "When all of your gills have turned white and you are an elder you can make an embassy here and visit me every day. Whatever you decide to do, I'm here,"

Shale stopped hissing to let her hot kisses wash over him, his eyes half closed and a low rumble of a purr eventually made its way to Baal's ears.

"Would you be interested in hunting the hard meat with me?" Shale asked Baal suddenly.

"I said I was here didn't I? My beloved spouse?" Baal chuffed hearty laughter and Shale felt the sound go up his spine,

Shale lightly tugged on one of Baal's ears, "they are dangerous beautiful one, my size or larger, fast and vicious, their blood can dissolve solid carbon, they are a challenge to kill and this isn't your fight."

"Yes it is, you are my friend and this is my home," Baal purred thickly and Shale patted her neck.

"It would be an honor to fight with you my friend," Shale trilled quietly, Baal wrapped her tail around him as they walked and purred in contentment.


	9. Chapter 9

Wakefulness slowly seeped through Dag's mind, no dreams had haunted her that night, only the velvet soft blackness of exhausted sleep. The soreness of her muscles and the gentle pressure of being snuggled made her aware of the world outside the blessed darkness.

Pleasantly warm Dag cracked open her eyes, still asleep and tucked in beside her was Ahhve. Long and thin but dense enough that Dag was pulled into their embrace by the effect their weight had on Baal's bed. Dag gazed at them, wondering when it had been that they had grown bigger than her, older than her. She closed her eyes again to try to doze but the anxieties of yesterday pecked and bit at her until she was forced to crawl out of Baal's bed.

Dag pulled a thin blanket from the pile and wrapped it around her naked body, her clothes were hanging to dry in Ahhve's room and until they were she had nothing to wear. Dag tied the fabric tight and tucked it to make sure it wouldn't slip off and went to the bathroom. Once she emerged she was greeted by the sight of Shale crouching by Baal's bed,

Before she could exclaim her excitement or relief he held up a finger to capture her attention, then he slowly pointed down at Ahhve and in the human way raised his finger to his mouth to tell Dag to keep silent.

_Thank god he's alright… _

Shale positioned himself to hover over Ahhve and pulled a feather from one of the charms bound in his locs, carefully he ran it over Ahhve's face until they woke with a sudden start. Shale's loud trilling laughter echoed in the apartment as Ahhve swatted at the teasing feather,

Ahhve barked and crawled out from under Shale, "You are an overgrown _child!" _

Shale stood, a low chuckle rumbled in his throat and he went over to clasp Dag's shoulder. Dag's smile widened and she hugged him in relief, from across the room she heard Baal's familiar clicking voice and she pulled away to see the six-legged feline striding towards the pantry.

While Baal cooked breakfast Shale informed Dag and Ahhve of what had transpired and Dag's relief turned into trepidation. Taking a techpad Shale drew one of the creatures he was supposed to be killing with his finger and showed the group. While carefully drawn it was… crude, and Shale hissed at Baal when she pointed this out.

Dag took the little drawing more seriously, her food went untouched as she held the techpad and gazed at the image. Shale had told them that it was a thing of corrosion, poison and waste, it was hard to believe that a single creature could be so destructive.

Baal explained that she would be joining Shale and asked if Dag and Ahhve would like to aid them, the two immediately agreed. Ahhve was a licenced bounty hunter in their own right and Dag had aided Shale on many a hunt to track down bad bloods, not just the ones that had ravaged her farm.

The unexpected bonus of spending more time with Baal and Ahhve was more than worth killing whatever space crap Shale had scrawled on the techpad.

Besides, it'd be good practice to get her back in the groove of things.

Several hours passed and it was almost night when there was a call over the door's comm. They were greeted by the same human from yesterday and a sleek pink armoured alien, Dag marveled over their iridescent eyes and fiercely sharp jaws, her choice of adornment beyond her official enforcement uniform indicated her gender was feminine.

"Been sometime since I spoke a terran dialect," The pink alien spoke in old russian, a language Dag had only learned in the downtime between collecting war garbage and the dead. After seeing it written upon ships, and ledgers and in encoded equipment Dag had eventually learned it for herself along with a few other dead terran languages.

Dag was surprised when she extended a deceptively delicate looking forearm in the human way of shaking hands, not many folk knew her customs and Dag was always comforted when they did. Her kind had caused a lot of interstellar messes in centuries gone by, it was reassuring to be reminded that most didn't hold it against her.

She 'shook' the pink alien's hand and watched as she greeted Shale, Ahhve, and Baal in kind with their individual customs,

"Do you know russian?" Dag asked Ahhve in common mandarin,

They made a face, "Fragments…"

"I'll help you when you need it."

The pink alien's sharp authoritative clicking caught everyone's attention, Dag spared a glance to the human, wondering if they had a translator to help decipher the languages too quick for their ears to catch.

Dag was informed in short order that the pink alien was the infamous Constable, and the human that was her lieutenant was actually an android that went by Ann, which explained the translator bit.

"The next place we're raiding is underneath a nightclub, dress casual to blend in. My team is going to try to get access to the fighting ring, once we're inside my people are going to shut it down, evacuate anyone on the upper floors, hold the employees and then when everything is secure we can crack down on the fighting ring." her clear eyelids blinked and she eyed Shale, "Once that's done we'll be roundin' up anyone who resists arrest, your job specifically is to get rid of these parasites," her large eyes cast in Dag and Baal's direction, "You folk can aid them or my people, your choice."

Dag and Shale exchanged a glance and Dag smiled at the wry way he flicked his tongue out from between his sharp teeth, the familiar tickle of adrenaline under the base of her skull spread down the backs of her arms and legs, it'd been a long time since she'd had any excitement.

Dressed in freshly dried and clean clothes, Dag sat in Ahhve's lap while they untangled her curly hair on the way to the club. Shale and Baal looked notably out of place in the enforcer's vehicle, for Baal had nowhere practical to sit and Shale just looked how he always looked. Seeing him sit anywhere that wasn't outside was like seeing someone in full fetish gear taking a subway ride or getting coffee. Unexpected.

"You're goin' to have to leave those pretty things in the craft," The Constable said to Shale, her gaze indicating his multitude of weapons, "They won't let ya have weapons inside,"

Shale took off his mask and set it on his knee, giving the Constable a particularly salty expression, his mandibles flexed and he clicked a sharp response that Dag didn't need a translator to figure out.

"Suit yourself," The Constable's cold voice snipped.

Dag couldn't hear it but she could feel Ahhve laughing through her back, she closed her eyes and relished the comforting sensation.

Ann set down the vehicle some distance away from the actual nightclub and they all walked to met up with the rest of the Constable's team. An assorted array of aliens in casual dress greeted them, the plan was rediscussed and certain individuals were given specific orders. Debriefing was quick and seamless as either individually or in small groups the team was sent inside.

Shale and Dag followed behind Ahhve and Baal, Dag had one arm casually around Shale's waist and her thumb strategically slipped under the band of cloth at his hips, conveying a convincing relationship dynamic to anyone that was paying attention.

"Hey, 'old it,"

One of the bouncers stopped them before they could get inside the club, she looked Dag over with narrowed eyes,

"I'd like to see some identification."

Shale popped open the gauntlet on his metal arm and red letters flashed before her, Dag pulled back her hair and let her inspect the metal disc surgically welded to her head.

"Alright, just making sure the human ain't underaged, now can you 'and over your weapons at the lockers? This ain't an open carry kind of place,"

Shale growled but tugged Dag along anyway. After waiting in line and watching other individuals fork over an array of guns and blasters it was Shale's turn to plop down the hooked blades that were attached to the gauntlet on his living hand.

Expecting the exchange to be over Shale inclined his head to the large hairy creature sitting across from the table,

"Uhm, Excuse me- I'm sure that can't be it-"

Dag watched in amusement as Shale's hiss made the alien across from them scoot back a little. Growling, Shale unhooked the mounted cannon that sat on his shoulder and dropped the heavy equipment onto the table with a loud clang. Continuing Shale unbelted an entire chain of knives and tossed it on top of his blaster. He started to walk away again when the alien timidly cleared it's throat,

"Uh, I don't mean to offend your customs, but I really can't let you in unless-" their sentence cut off when Shale impatiently pulled his loc's away and unsheathed a long blade from where it was hidden on his back and tossed it onto the pile of metal. Not stopping, Shale set one scaly sandaled foot on the table and plucked out weapon after weapon from hidden slots in the armour along his claves. After repeating this on his other leg he unstrapped the armour that was clasped on his thighs, revealing bolts of disc-like projectiles hidden in the sides. Minutes passed as clang after clang of metal dropped undelicatly on the table in front of them.

There was even an old terran style gun Shale had hidden underneath a breastplate, where he kept any bullets to go with it Dag could only guess.

Eventually Shale had stripped off almost all of his armour, leaving a massive pile of sharp metal on the table for the poor employee to try to sort and store without setting something off.

"Wait," Dag fingered the waistband of Shale's black fabric booty shorts and slipped out a thin blade from a hidden sleeve in the fabric, "I think that's it," she said as she placed it on top of the mountain of yautja metal.

The soft furry alien gazed forlornly at the amount of pointy crap Shale and Dag had burdened it with, "Enjoy your evening…" it said, casting a nervous eye at the long line that Shale and Dag had caused.

"_Sorry!" _Dag said before Shale placed his big paw of a hand on her back and propelled her inside.

Shale had to squint at the flurry of lights inside the club, Dag was practically bouncing on her toes, the music was loud and the folk inside were vibrant. This place lacked the homely laid back atmosphere of the bar Ahhve had taken her to, it was much brighter, wilder, and louder. Several floors were packed full and vibrated with energy, the sound and the light filled her from the tip of her toes to the top of her scalp.

"There's Baal!" Dag said excitedly before she went to squeeze her way onto the dance floor, unlike the Constable's crew she wasn't bound by any orders aside from the promise to aid Shale and had free reign to explore.

Baal was in the center, moving and swaying with all six limbs on the floor, the electric purple pink lights illuminated her sleek black fur like an oil slick, hidden patterns in her dense fur glowed under the clubs bright lights.

Shale slipped off to the far side of the club, his domed head was ringing incessantly and his ability to hear was numbed by the deep heavy vibrations of the music. He ordered a drink by typing out what he wanted on his gauntlet and leaned back against the bar to give the nightclub a good look-over.

Several floors up he saw Ahhve's fluorescent spots flash against the light as the lithe alien wove their way around the packed bodies. After some moments he spotted one of his own kind looming over a balcony near the top, they were too far away for Shale to make out much else. Tasting the hot air with his tongue Shale found Dag still on the dancefloor and a inaudible purr rose up in his throat. It was good to see her enjoying herself.

Some moments later the Constable slipped beside Shale, she said something to him but he had to type out on his gauntlet that the music rendered him deaf for the time being. She nodded and indicated to one of the sides of the club which were roped off, he nodded and gestured to Dag and Baal.

The Constable inclined her head to him and disappeared back into the crowd, Shale moved to get Dag but paused to watch with interest as the Yautja he had seen earlier casually approach Dag and Baal.

Now that Shale could get a better look at them it was clear they were very young, shoulder-length black gills were bound tight over a few bits of gleaming metal and bone.

_Kid's gonna make a fun chew toy for Dag… _

Thoroughly amused, Shale took one last lick of his drink before following after the Constable.

Dag was too focused in copying Baal's elegant swaying to notice the Yautja making their way for her until she saw Baal's bright yellow eyes look over her shoulder. Dag spun to catch a glimpse of what approached her, and she turned again, making the movement seamless as she smiled at the black loc'd youth. They were dressed in dark red fabrics, little more than a thong and a pair of intricately decorated gloves, the expression on their face was welcoming and curious.

From behind her Dag felt the silky soft fur of Baal close at her back before she saw Baal slip from her view, Dag knew the yautja couldn't hear either of them so she flashed a few signs in several different dialects of hand speech while keeping up the rhythm of the dance.

Easily the yautja responded to the third one. I am Dawn-Whispers. I am a Hunter. He said with his graceful leathery hands.

Dag mimicked the way Shale had greeted friendly yautja in the past and told Dawn-Whispers the nickname the bad bloods had given her. I am Little-Tusk-Breaker. Dag signed with nimble fingers, watching Dawn-Whispers yellow eyes widen.

I am a Hunter. Her hands continued to say. I am a Gravedigger. Dag clasp her hands together and opened them in a traditional yautja greeting. From what she understood by the snippets that Shale had explained to her Yautja language translated human pronouns as ones place in society. Essentially the name of their job or career was as much of a gender as her human one was. Difficult to translate into most terran languages since most commonly humans had something of a few dozen genders and yautja culture had well over a thousand.

Nevertheless, her name alone gave her a certain status.

Which one calls you that? He asked, he was now dancing with her, more interested than before. It was crowded enough that they had to keep their talking hands above their waists to be able to be seen.

That was a question no one had ever asked Dag, she panicked for a moment as she remembered why, Shale had been with her the other times she had introduced herself to other Yautja. She shouldn't have been so forthright with her name, the yautja in front of her presented himself in such an expressive and charming way it had brought her guard down.

Time had run out to lie convincingly so Dag just signed to him the truth. Stalks-at-Dusk gave me my name.

It was harmless to tell him the truth right? What were the odds that Shale was that well known to criminals? Or even that Dawn-Whispers was involved with the fighting ring she was here to help with?

Oh, she was here to help with that. The music and the excitement had completely shattered that thought from her mind but now that she remembered her palms had gone clammy.

But Dawn-Whispers didn't react to Shale's given name, instead he extended a hand and Dag took it to lead the dance. She'd have to figure out a way to get off the dance floor when it was polite to do so, but for the moment she could give herself over to the movement of the music. Safe and secure in the knowledge that Baal was not far from her.

...

Down beneath the bowls of the building Shale was clearing his head of the noise from upstairs.

"You doin' alright?" the Constable's voice cut through like a knife,

Shale gave a half-hearted growl and ran his living fingers over the dome of his head, "Never you mind, nothing to fuss over."

The Constable's mandibles clicked together once before she finished placing her bet. Down in the ring a pair of yautja were facing off, neon green blood coated the ground and the faces of those in the first and second rows.

Shale eyed the savage display and stifled a hiss, though his mandibles flexed in irritation, "feel like paying extra to be in the splash zone?"

The Constable's cold voice gave way to a warm chittering laugh, "It would make for a titillating date."

The pale green yautja bodily threw the darker one across the ring, slamming them right into the spiked cage, the din of the crowd was almost comparable to the thunderous music from up above.

"You fancy watching children beat each other to death?" Shale hissed at the Constable shortly.

Her eyes blinked, "_These are children?" _She whispered to him as they moved around the ring,

If their unbound gills were anything to go by, then yes, they were.

Shale gave her a curt nod and watched as the membrane covering her eyes flushed blue,

"I…" her heavy pause caused Shale to shift his full attention to her, a moment too long passed and she broke his heavy stare. "I'm sorry," she clicked shortly. Her usual cold brisk attitude was completely absent, instead she sounded genuinely regretful.

He waited until she had composed herself to trill at her in reassurance, it was easy to mistake a yautja child as an adult after all.

Shale scanned the basement of the club, taking in the flimsy nature of the cage and the temporary benches, it was clear this setup was designed to be built and taken down at a moments notice. Shale flicked his tongue out, tasting blood both fresh and weeks old.

_Hard meat… _

That scent was pungent, acidic, and foul, it cloyed to the walls and crevices of this place. Shale tasted the air again, no longer watching the fight but trying to find where most of the hard meat scent was coming from.

The crowd roared again and folk screamed as the darker green yautja ripped the others head clean off, all around him aliens were howling in either elation or rage as the heavy domed head dropped to the ground with a loud thud. Too exhausted to even cry in triumph the young yautja fell to their knees, even from where he stood Shale could see their hands were shaking.

A flash from across the room caught his attention and Shale glanced up to see Ahhve, all but invisible but for the luminescent spots on their face and along the seams of their leathery armoured hide.

For an instant Shale was reminded of how he had found Ahhve, malnourished and filthy, kept alive on a chain that the white hunter would drag around. for what purpose Shale didn't know. Except perhaps for the sake of cruelty itself.

The ones here placing bets worshiped the same god the white hunter did, and it made Shale's green blood simmer.

Down in the ring the child that was still alive was dragged off by other yautja, these were older, gills bound, and they treated the youth roughly. Shale saw a flash of luminescent light and Ahhve's scent brushed up against him and cleared the air of the hard meats stench.

"I beg you tell me you are not an exception to your species," their unusually curt tone vibrated along Shale's domed skull and he broke his iron gaze from the ring to look up at the cobalt blue alien standing next to him. Their black glossy eyes were unmoving from the now bare fighting ring, clouded by the glaze of pain long past.

"Aye, though you've no reason to believe me. These one's here care more for money than each other." Shale returned his attention to the ring and from an opening beneath the floor he saw a gleaming carapace and writhing skeletal forms inside the inky darkness.

A long black arm shot out from the hole in the floor and under the bright light a gleaming jet black creature crawled out, it moved like liquid smoke, clear mucus dripped onto the floor, leaving dark glossy splotches in its wake as it moved toward the headless corpse. After a moment of investigating the still corpse the hard meat batted it away to a corner with a hiss and looked up at the hoards of warm bodies kept at bay by a fragile cage of metal, its sightless unintelligible face seemed to be pointed straight at Shale.

"_That_ is much more fearsome than what you drew on my tech pad," Ahhve said dryly,

Shale grunted and cracked his neck, doing this barehanded was going to be a challenge, getting into the cage would be the easy part.

Another struggling creature was shoved from a freshly opened trap door and left without any weapons to defend itself. Beside him Ahhve grabbed the shoulder that was attached to his metal arm and clutched it tightly, their normally dark eyes had contracted into thick slits surrounded by the brightest of yellows.

"_Murde…" _

Shale glanced back at the brown furred creature that had now righted itself on the floor of the ring, "You know this one?"

Ahhve nodded his head in the human way and Shale huffed bad temperedly, luck was not being forgiving to him today.

Long past caring about the social graces Shale strolled forward toward the cage and nonchalantly grabbed at the thin bars. The hot electrical shock the metal gave him hurt, but he wasn't about to let it prevent him from pulling the bars apart. From behind him he heard yelling and someone tried to pry him off, Shale swiftly decked the alien that had touched him and went back to yanking the bars apart. He felt the electricity increase and then immediately shut off when the metal had been pulled far enough apart for him to get in.

Behind him he heard Ahhve snarl and a shriek of pain, Shale jumped in and wrenched the bars back in place before turning to the stunned feline and the drooling obsidian monster that was now entirely focused on him.

From across the room the Constable flashed a multicolored light, three flashes, and then a bright cry rang out.

…

Yautja dancing was a lot like hula, all grace and bent knees. Dag, who had been taught a little by Shale and his sister, was already aching and out of breath in the short time she had been dancing with Dawn-Whispers. The amount of effort it took to move through the air like it was water while bending your knees and keeping mind to not show the pain on your face was grueling.

_This seemed a lot easier ten years ago… _Dag thought with a taste of dry humor, perhaps it wasn't, but according to memory Shale and Grey-Sky had made it look so seamless and effortless. Well, that was really the point of the way their dances went now wasn't it?

Dawn-Whispers surprised Dag by breaking the invisible line between them and taking her hand, with a gentle pressure Dawn-Whispers guided her into a spin and then pulled her back in. Dag felt a sharp sting of pain on the palm of her hand, her soft gasp of surprise couldn't have been heard but Dawn-Whisper's saw the startled look on her face. Dag looked at her palm to see a thin line of blood swelling from a razor thin cut, Dawn-Whispers smelled the air with their tongue and licked at the claw of his thumb.

Please tell me you don't finger-bang anybody with those out. Dag signed to Dawn-Whispers, above the loud music she could hear his heavy trilling laughter. He gave Dag's bleeding palm a delicate lick with his tongue before pulling her closer.

I saw you come in with one like me. Dawn-Whispers signed to Dag. You aren't beholden to them, are you?

The cut on her hand throbbed hotly and Dag shook her head, the music felt tangible all of the sudden, pulsing all around her, too loud, too bright.

I'm beholden to no one. Her fingers spoke in between them.

Dawn-Whispers tilted his head to the side, Dag's hand still rested in his and was dwarfed by the massive size, he was taller and broader than Shale, Dag felt small.

_Where's Baal? _

Dag looked around her and squinted, her eyes weren't able to focus on much, she wasn't sure if it was the flashing lights messing with her or not.

The hot pale blue tongue passed over the cut on Dag's hand again. Any other human might not have understood the gesture, but she knew it was one of affection, though, the potential intimate nature didn't strike her until Dawn-Whispers looked her directly in the eye while doing it.

His amber yellow eyes glowed with a heat that Dag felt spill it's way through her body,

_Shit… _

You taste good. The motion of Dawn-Whispers hands blurred in the flashing lights but Dag still caught the words. She felt her cheeks burn, the comment rendered her mind uncharacteristically blank as Dawn-Whispers leaned forward. Normally she could muster some kind of quip or witty remark, at the very least she would flirt back. Yet now Dag stood shock still as Dawn-Whispers pulled her close and licked her from collarbone all the way to the side of her face.

Yautja tongues weren't slobbery or sticky like human's were, it was more like slightly damp velvet or a strip of warm silk was being brushed over Dags skin. The sensation made her involuntarily shiver, obliterating whatever it was she was trying to focus on.

The cut on her hand throbbed and burned in the background of her swirling thoughts.

_There's something I'm supposed to be doing… _

The large hands around her were suddenly pulling, guiding her away from the bright lights and loud music,

_There's something… I'm… _

Dazed, her whole hand now burning, Dag's eyes rolled back up toward the ceiling and her consciousness winked out in the eclipse of a bright vibrant pink light.

...

The cacophony of voices around Shale were ceaseless, what was going on outside of the ring he could only guess, the lights above drowned out his sight. Nevermind that a hard meat of unusual size was crouched down and sizing him up.

It's long tail thrashed at the ground and coiled ready to strike. Shale flexed his left shoulder and an audible crack popped underneath his skin.

_Been awhile… _

Shale had remembered how frightening these creatures were in the cold dark, but he'd forgotten how deadly beautiful they'd been made. Perfection not of nature but of a flawed mortal hand.

The arrogance.

From behind him Shale could pick out a few yautja voices from the din, Ahhve's snarling retorts right in pace with them.

Across the ring the black shelled beast leapt at him, Shale's muscle memory did not betray him as he ducked, his hands reached up and grabbed ahold of its tail just as it crested over him. Not hesitating Shale pulled and brought down the much heavier creature onto the hard stone floor with a sickening thud.

The scrawny grey gilled hunter braced his feet and bodilly threw the hard meat against the thin metal bars, unbent, there was nothing to keep the electricity from shocking it. Screaming and hissing it scrambled to its feet only to be greeted with Shale's welcoming metal fist.

The sound cut off quickly and Shale spun out of the way of it's bladed tail, the alien creature was hissing in a way that sounded like laughter, a thin line of green blood dripped from the sharp edge of it's spined tail.

Unexpectedly a chunk of rock cracked the black creature on the back of it's domed head and it turned, snarling in the direction of where it had come from. The bipedal feline was busy clawing up another chunk of stone from the grey floor, their bright blue eyes darting from the creature to Shale.

_Brave little thing… _Shale thought as he took the opportunity to attack the hard meat again, he punched it in the side with his living hand this time and felt the bone underneath crack. A shriek echoed up through the basement of the nightclub followed by a low thud as another clod of rock hit shiny black hide.

"Best you get out now!" Shale clicked at them as he ducked under savage strong six fingered hands.

"_Fuck you!" _another rock went flying and whacked the hard meat's tail back before it could strike Shale, "_After that thing is dead you're next!" _

Feisty, Shale liked the sound of that. "Let's hope you get the chance!" the tail swung at him again, he ducked in time but he felt a dull pain as the tip of one of his gills was lopped off.

From behind him the feline alien dug their long thick claws into the stone floor, digging up and wrenching the clod free, panting and swearing under their breath. Shale could smell the spike of their anxiety just under the scent of the hard meat, neon green blood dripped onto the floor, droplets shining like the scattered stars in the sky.

Outside the ring Ahhve was staring down three grown yautja, anyone else that they could see were occupied with either barring the doors or making arrests. Several brawls had broken out in the room as folk scrambled to get out.

"_Kill it!" _The oldest yautja ordered, their harsh clicks grated against Ahhve's ears as they lay back. Calmly, Ahhve plucked out one if their long quills as the other two crept forward.

Quick as a flash of lightning Ahhve reached out to grab the closest one and stabbed them in the throat with the deadly end of their quill, not a moment later they had ripped out another and plunged it into the heart of the second. Yautja hide wasn't normally punctured by something so silvery thin or delicate, both hardly noticed the tiny pinpricks of pain as Ahhve's quills sank into their dense flesh. In the span of two heartbeats they had grabbed Ahhve and were about to pull them to shreds when both started to feel weak, then they started to vomit.

No worse for wear Ahhve stepped over the heaving Yautja as the third started to back off, in a tone of voice cold as creeping frost they spoke,

"First you feel sick, and then you bleed." They yanked out another quill, as thin and strong as a rapier and gleaming silver blue in the dark light. "_If I am feeling kind, I will not use two." _From behind them the yautja that had been stuck in the heart with a quill had a glowing green foam bubbling up from their lungs.

Hissing, the still standing hunter pulled out a pair of needle-thin daggers from the charms on their black gills that were small enough to be confused for jewelry, the blades shone diamond white.

Pupils hardly more than a cat's slits Ahhve bodily tackled the alien, yowling with a fury hot enough to melt stone.

Shale roared as hot acid blood dripped onto this thigh, the hard meat on top of him stabbed it's tail down towards his head, he moved just in time for the tip to drill itself into the stone floor. Wrenching and hissing it couldn't wedge its tail out of the ground, with a tell-tale grimace the hard meat opened wide and the death fangs of another smaller mouth came into view. Quickly Shale grabbed it and pulled, hard but not hard enough to rip it off, he had little chance of surviving the amount of acid that would come pouring out.

Other hand free the hard meat bit down on Shale's metal hand and clawed his chest from shoulder to hip, glowing blood flowed and Shale's irritated hissing deepened into outright curses. Keeping his metal hand closed tight around the second mouth he let got of the other set of claws and began laying it out on the side of the hard meat's head.

Crack. Crack. _Crack. __**Crack-pop. **_

The last punch broke something, hissing and spitting the hard meat let go of Shale's hand and reared back, yanking it's second mouth from his grasp and slinking away with a jaw that no longer closed right.

Just then a large clump of rock bounced off of it's long smooth dome, hissing and spitting it turned to the feline creature across the cage, who had now made a sizable hole in the ground with their powerful blunt claws.

Drooling glassy hot spittal the hard meat flexed its strong six fingered hands and rushed for the small creature than had been making itself an irritation the entire fight. Shale was fast but not fast enough to tackle it, his hands grabbed onto the sharp bladed tail and held it tight. The hard sharp flesh cut into his fingers and green blood spilled onto the ground,

"_Get out!" _Shale clicked as loudly as he could, but the brown furred creature only sat in place, wide-eyed and frozen.

A loud yelp from outside the ring distracted Shale just long enough to look over to see Ahhve be thrown against the electrified cage. Their scream that pierced the air was enough to shake the feline alien from their daze and claw under the fence to freedom.

The bladed tail yanked itself from Shale's hands, cutting his living one to the bone and slicing off a few metal fingers. The hard meat reasserted it's stance, its broken jaw gaped wide and dribbled hungrily.

Shale flexed his damaged metal hand, the dull throbbing of false nerves mimicked pain but not the burn. If he had his blades this would be over by now.

The hard meat didn't wait, rushing towards him like a black inky blur, Shale's instinct was to kick up, clocking its already weak jaw. Howling came from the beasts mouth, it rushed forward again, only to be met with Shale's fists, acid blood spittal singed and smarted his living fingers.

The sound of the electric bars buzzed behind him as something smacked into them again, hearing Ahhve scream in pain rent at Shale's insides. The fresh burst of frustration and rage filled his limbs with hot clarity. Shale slipped under sharp six fingered claws and grappled the black armoured hard meat, the world spun as he lifted it and pummeled it backwards onto the hard floor.

There was an echoing thud and a stillness settled around the ring.

Breathing hard, Shale stomped down on it's skull to make sure it didn't get up, not that it was likely if the broken neck was anything to go by, but he wasn't keen on taking any chances. Shale glanced up at the outside of the ring to see Ahhve standing across from him, green blood and crimson gore mixed on their skin and clothes, their face was already swelling from a blow.

Shales eyes glanced down at the twitching yautja body that lay against the cage, still being electrified by the metal despite being nearly decapitated. Most folk were now arrested and anyone who hadn't been restrained thought twice after seeing some of the best ring fighters get squashed in a matter of moments. Some sat dejectedly in chairs and others were already making their necessary legal contacts, a few were cooperating with the enforcement officers and getting their statements written down.

Ann was the one who found the control panel for the cage and deactivated it so that Shale could get out. He stretched and flicked his tongue out with satisfaction at the feeling of each popping joint,

"Are you seriously injured?" Ann asked.

Shale showed them his living hand and they nodded, "I will fetch our medic,"

"Have you seen Dag?" Ahhve asked, their voice was hoarse and the front of their face and mandibles still coated with bright green blood, beside them was the small brown furred feline, dirty but unhurt.

"Last I saw the human was upstairs," Ann said before walking away.

Ahhve huffed, "Have you seen her?"

Shale shook his head, "I think I started the party prematurely, she might have gotten stuck up there,"

"Ah, likely, this was not a well organized raid,"

"Aye,"

"She will be disappointed not to see such a pretty beast,"

Shale grunted, "Pretty until they bleed on ya, where's Baal?"

Both looked around, scanning the busy crowd of unfamiliar faces and then glanced at each other,

"I will go look for her upstairs, " Ahhve said, "Will you be content to be down here Murde?"

Bright blue eyes glanced around, "I'm fine now, I can handle normal folk," they looked Shale in the eye and he twitched his upper mandibles in a surly expression,

"Seems I remember you sayin' I was next," Shale trilled softly,

Though scuffed up and dirty Murde still had the spirit to purr back, they slowly closed their eyes at him, "never said when," and with that they walked off, only looking back once to wink at Ahhve.

"Go," Ahhve nudged Shale, "Fix your hand before it becomes useless, I will find Baal and Dag."

Shale gave a friendly growl before reaching up with his metal hand and rubbing off some of the luminescent blood, "clean yer face first,"

Ahhve opened their mandibles wide, unlike Shale they only had two bottom ones, but they pulled back to reveal a vicious nightmare maw. Ahhve closed their mouth cheekily and wiped the bitter blood from their jaws before heading off.

Absentmindedly tasting the air Shale sighed, he looked over the yautja corpses that had been left behind, the quills that stuck out of two of them left alive and the teeth marks on the one that lay against the bars left no mistake whos handiwork it was.

A medic soon approached and was being guided by Ann, Shale's hand was bandaged and his other wounds cared for, the basement was beginning to clear out and a thin line of anxiety started to hum in the back of his mind.

_Dag… _

Shale left the basement to see that the entire nightclub was all but abandoned, the music was shut off and whomever was left wore matching uniforms. Shale quickly went over to the table and the creature he had given over his weapons to, all the while looking for any sign of Dag, Ahhve, or Baal.

Once he got his metal back he ill-temperedly strapped it all back on and went to look around outside, from a distance he saw Ahhve's gleaming mane of quills beside the Constable and he strode over towards them.

"Ah, here he is!" The Constable had switched to common mandarin, "Still standin' then?"

"Just about," Shale looked Ahhve in the eye but didn't like what he saw,

"I couldn't find them," Ahhve was worried, one eye had now swollen almost shut, "No one has seen them!"

The thread of anxiety in Shales chest pulled a little tighter,

"I just finished tellin' her so I'll jus- oh pardon me, them-"

Ahhve who had other things to be stressed about waved their hand carelessly at the Constable without so much as a glance,

"-The team members of mine that'd been down there unlocking the cells and so far found out that whoever runnin' this shithole been givin' out orders an' been pokin' around lookin' fer more _unique _types of folk. Human's ain't much to turn a head but your spouse is a rare one."

"You think they took them?" Shale's clicking was quick and sharp.

"Well… I certainly wouldn't have up an' left you in the middle of a fight," the Constable started to make her way off, "After this rabble been dealt with I'll be sendin' a search party out for ya, least I can do,"

"This isn't over," Shale called out to her and watched as she paused and turned to them, "We need to find the one that lays the eggs and kill it."

Without saying a word she nodded and walked off toward the nightclub.

Ahhve touched Shale's shoulder and Shale touched their hand in a gesture of comfort, "We'll find them,"

"This is assuming they could capture Baal,"

"Aye, but then where is Dag? She'd make good bait."

Ahhve hissed, their hoarse voice making the tone all the more threatening,

"Something like this was bound to happen, I ain't exactly unknown among the off world colonies of my kind-"

"_This is not your fault!" _Ahhve's voice broke, "We were careless, we were all careless, this might not even be the fighting ring- it might be someone else with a tooth and an eye sharp for Baal and myself. We are not without our enemies."

Shale nodded thoughtfully, his sharp tongue flicking out and tasting the air, rapidly looking for any kind of scent.

"Shale..?"

Shale stopped his scenting and turned to Ahhve,

"What did the Constable mean by _spouse?" _Ahhve was looking at him with a narrowed eye,

"It is a monogamous concept," Shale went back to scenting the air, "I tried it so that Baal may accompany me to meet with her but it didn't work."

Ahhve's thin dry laughter trickled out of their mouth, "_You told her you were married?" _

"Might as well be, we've saved each others lives often enough, maybe I'll marry her when we find her,"

"Gods pray we find her before she eats her captor." Upper teeth bared in a lazy tired smile, Ahhve hooked a finger around one of the loops on Shale's gear and pulled him by the hips back towards the nightclub. "Let us see if the Constable is feeling generous with her team hm?"


	10. Chapter 10

[ Trigger Warning: Rape/Necrophilia mention ]

Baal was tightly bound and muzzled with sour smelling metal, preventing her from biting and clawing her way to freedom. She had been stuffed in a cage far too small for her and foul liquid dripped on her silken fur from above and all around a din of terror for a dozen different aliens shattered any hope of peaceful sleep.

All it had taken for Dag to disappear was a few moments. Baal had only left to find somewhere with enough room to stretch out her back and when she'd returned the little one was gone.

From what Baal could remember she had been led into an ambush and traqualized, it'd been a long time since anyone had snuck up on her like that, fucking yautja. Her her tail flicked in irritation and covered her nose to block out the smell of rot and death.

The stench and the noise brought back memories of the burrows at their worst. When flight corporations ruled the sphere mercilessly, no embassy's, no shelters, little food and no money for anyone below a certain paygrade. Poverty stricken, many folk fell to violence to keep food in their bellies. Back then Baal was little more than a hired-gun, anything to keep from selling herself again.

Baal hadn't known Shale personally way back then, only through word of mouth and reputation had she a gleaning of his nature, so she'd been more than surprised when the thin bedraggled yautja had shown up on her doorstep asking for a favor.

Baal was one of the few hirable fighters that had set down any kind of roots in the sphere at the time, she was certainly the only one who'd been at home and willing to let a yautja into her living space with two strange children.

Stalks-at-Dusk was an odd one, that she'd heard, a hunter that only hunted his own kind. Transgressors he'd called them, blasphemers and bad bloods. At first she only thought him a glorified murderer life herself, the long necklace of yautjan tusks that swung on his neck was proof of his skill.

Suspicious, untrusting, Baal had only let him in out of the cold wet because of the two bodies he carried, one in each arm and drenched with wet acidic rain.

"There's not too much food if that's what you want," She'd told him, the designated market time wasn't for several turns of the sun, until then the stalls were chained closed.

"I didn't ask ye for food," his voice had almost been a growl. He was shorter and thinner than most of his ilk, scar hardened muscles wrapped wire-tight to his thick bones, his long gills faded to a soft dark grey and one was a shocking strip of white.

He'd refused the cushions Baal had offered and instead sat beside the heater with his back against the wall and the two children still in his arms. A myilliean and an adolescent human from what Baal could see. While the human had looked healthy enough, the myilliean was covered in wounds and layers of bruising, both so exhausted that neither the yauta's voice nor his movements disturbed their sleep. Their slender arms wrapped around his thick leathery neck, the myilliean's pale blue hand clutched the long necklace of tusks like a life-line.

"Those yours?" Baal had never been good at small talk,

The thin yautja had narrowed his eyes at her, "_Aye, _whelped them myself."

Baal had managed a snort at that, he was living up to his reputation.

"I mean it, seriously, are the babes in your arms yours or are you looking for their kin?" Baal had settled across from him in the small space of her single room home, "I can help you find their families, I know yautjan hunters don't like being tied down."

"Your compassion is appreciated, but it's no business of yours." Stalks-at-Dusk's tone had been as harsh and cold as a glacier dragging along stone.

"Bitter are we?" Baal had clicked back curtly, "Maybe a little cranky? Hm? Harder than it looks isn't it, being gentle?"

The beginnings of a hiss had spilled out into the room but before Stalks-at-Dusk could curse at the saisoa's words the myilliean whimpered in their sleep. Baal had watched curiously as this hunter of hunters took the time to hum and purr and comfort a child that was not his own.

Baal's observant golden eyes took in the scene, the way he'd forgotten her needling comment when it seemed that one of the children might awake, and how his amber eyes were looking over the tired faces resting against him. Depending on him it seemed.

She'd gotten up and brought over one of her lesser used shawls, "I asked what I asked because I'd met one of your kind that kept a child of another species beside them, unjustly killed their sire or so I was told."

Stalks-at-Dusk looked at her sourly, "I take down the ones that make those kinds of mistakes," he allowed Baal to cover the children with the shawl and lay down next to him,

"So I've heard, but why the living baggage?"

"Someone's got to take some fucking responsibility," his voice was gruff, but Baal was having a little trouble taking him completely seriously when he looked so sweet bundled up in a shawl with his arms full of babes.

"Honorable of you,"

Stalks-at-Dusk then turned to her and said something that had forced Baal to like him right then and there despite her misgivings.

"It ain't honorable, it's just bein' decent."

_Decent. _

Not many sentient folk would know what decency was even if it slapped them on the ass. Even more so the yautja whom she'd encountered over the years, all outer colony born and bred, cruel thieves and gangsters, the lot of them.

Stalks-at-Dusk never thought twice that what he was doing was an incredible blessing of mercy in a cold universe, nor care if it meant being perceived as weak to any number of enemies he'd made across the stars. It was just the right thing to do.

Decent.

More foul smelling water dripped on Baal's head and brought her back from the memories of her dark leaky home to the dripping prison she was now confined in.

Even though the babes he'd carried into her home that day were long full grown she still felt protective of them. She'd entertained Dag's willingness to dance with the young yautja, the human's trusting nature had been helpful on more than one occasion, and anyway not everyone of Shale's kind was a criminal.

_Well… All that I've happened to meet other than him and his kin have been criminals… _

If things got really desperate with this… acid creature situation… Shale might just call up a favor with his older sister. She wasn't an arbitrator like he was, although she could be if she wished, if she wasn't so well pleased to be a hunting mother that is.

Baal shifted as much as she could to get comfortable in her cage, her spine was acting up and the deep burning tightness along her back was only getting worse. Her six golden eyes slipped close and she flexed the curved claws on her powerful paws.

She was a bounty hunter. She was patient. All she had to do was wait.

Whatever these yautja thought to put her up against in their little games she'd take care of it, and then it would be their turn.

….

Dag was awoken by screaming, shrill frantic screaming. It cut the air like a cold knife and Dag's eyes flew open to be greeted by little more than the dark blackness and the alien voices calling out in panic. Her eyes strained to adjust as she pulled against her restraints, they were sticky, slimey, Dag retched at the smell.

Sour acetone and bleach… like that shit that she and Fish drank after their last flight test that gave her the worst hangover of her life. The smell burned in her throat like the sting of hot bile. Dag had to fight back the urge to vomit.

_Fool… idiot… fucking dumbass! That bitch! That fucking bitch! He took me! _

Anger curled deep in Dag's stomach and with a growl she started ripping at the strange organic material that had glued her to a metal wall.

With a light thump she landed on the floor, freezing metal bit at her calloused feet and Dag shivered, she was naked and alone in the dark.

Her weak human eyes had adjusted as much as they could, she was able to see shapes and that was enough. As soon as she was out of wherever this was she was finding Dawn-Whispers and kicking his red thong wearing alligator-looking ass.

Dag had been so enamoured to see a yautja that wasn't trying to kill her or Shale she'd let down her guard. Stupid. So stupid.

Pathetic, weak, now she was stuck somewhere dark and dank and her rescue would be a _burden. _

_Fuck this. _

Dag's foot bumped into something organic and fleshy, she looked down and saw the egg shaped mound that was resting by the wall she'd been stuck to. She couldn't make out a lot of details, only that it was almost as tall as her shin, possibly beige-grey, and definitely alive.

Shale had told her about these things. Don't hesitate, smash 'em.

But with what?

Dag glanced around, her hands felt along the walls but the only thing even close to a weapon that she could find was from the sticky residue that had glued her to the wall. Some of it had hardened into an almost clear glassy substance, Dag broke off a piece and manipulated it into the semblance of a thin blade. The stuff was moldable and fragile, but that didn't matter, as long as the point of it worked. Dag wondered if it would be enough to buy her time, Shale had said that the creatures these eggs birthed were fast and tenacious, once they got your scent they wouldn't stop until they'd claimed you.

The noises of fear and screaming from when she'd awakened had quieted into agitated whispers and whimpers. Wherever Dag was she wasn't alone, but she needed to be careful, she wasn't about to be trapped again.

_Fool me once… _

Gritting her teeth Dag crouched down by the egg, it's stillness was unnerving, but she brushed aside her instinctual fear and raised her make-shift weapon. Swift with the speed and accuracy of a yautja raised human Dag plunged it into the clammy firm flesh of the egg. It went through surprisingly easily, amniotic fluid gushed out, jelly-thick and grey. Dag stabbed it again and again until the balloon popped and a half developed alien embryo slid out with a wet plop.

The part of her brain that had evolved over millions of years to fear spiders and scorpions reeled back in disgust, Dag coughed at the smell of the birthing fluid. Eyes watering, she fisted her weapon and stabbed the many-legged creature, it stuck sharp in the center of the cave-fish belly pale flesh and broke in half. The alien only twitched once before a spurt of hot acid caused Dag to jerk her hand away. Almost immediately the stillborn began to dissolve, bubble, and froth in a soupy mix of acid blood and egg sac liquid. The smell was something out of a nightmare. Plastic, sulfur, artificial and sour-hot. She would have honestly prefered the smell of manure, at least she knew where manure came from, that it was harmless. Not like this shit.

She'd been more than lucky, lady luck had downright blessed her. Under her breath Dag muttered a thanks to the cosmos, a habit picked up from Baal. She wondered where the large feline was, where Shale and Ahhve were, worry gnawed at her stomach but she pushed it away with a hush. It was more than likely she was the only one here. But first things first, get out.

Dag set off, her naked human feet silent along the freezing hard metal floors. The part of her that was still thirteen was paranoid of the worst. She longed for a reflective surface, something so that she could check herself. But Dag was sure she hadn't been raped, you would know if a yautja raped you unless you were dead before it happened.

The image of her father's kind face flashed in front of her and Dag roughly grabbed it and swallowed it down. The rage in her hungry belly would keep her warm in this fresh cold hell.

Like a shade of a ghost Dag crept toward the sounds of talking, though but a naked human, she'd been half raised by an arbitrator, one old enough to remember the time before the splitting of his species. One who'd hunted humans in his youth, whose proud trophies came with at least a scar each on his dark weathered hide.

Dag reached the end of the dark hall to see aliens of all different kinds, a few were still glued to the wall with the same substance she had been, some hung quietly limp and Dag felt a hard rock form in her stomach. Those that were alive and had their wits were talking amongst themselves. Where were they? What was going on?

Her immediate instinct to help was crushed when her eyes drifted down to the empty ova on the floor and dead parasites that lay strewn about. Dag took a headcount and forced her feet to backup and slip away even as the raw anger burned in her throat.

Six for six.

According to what Shale had told her before the constable had picked them up there was no saving these folk now. Nothing she could do at any rate without an immediate medivac and emergency surgery. Both of which weren't going to fuckall happen, the only place these faces were destined for now was the morgue.

It was selfish, but her first priorities were to get the fuck out of this dark maze and she wasn't sure she'd able to handle confused and frightened folk straggling behind her. Dag's mind was buzzing with memories of Shale, the things he'd told her about these… hard meats…

_Weapons of war… had to be… _

Without a second glance Dag slipped off back the way she'd came, tears burning behind her eyelids as she drove herself to walk away.

She quickly came back upon where she had pryed herself off of the wall and found to her shock that the puddle of dead alien embryo had burned a near perfect hole in the floor. Dag cautiously touched the frayed edges of the hole, they stung, but the acid was diluted by the egg-fluid and Dag estimated only some minor burns if she risked it.

Well, lady luck wasn't done with her yet it seemed.

Dag crawled down through the hole and dropped down into the hallway below, avoiding the hole directly underneath that was boring itself through the metal.

From the design of the architecture around her Dag knew she was on a yautja ship. Likely the pit fighters home base, and if the steady hum of the engines told her anything it was that she was in the bowls of the machine.

_Wouldn't it be fucking hilarious if this thing was floating in dock at orbit and that shit melted through the ship's hull? _

It'd be a quick death for sure, the entire ship would decompress and turn itself inside out into the vacuum of space.

Shivering, Dag walked on.

_Maybe if I can make it out of here fast enough the people above can be taken to a hospital… _

Unlikely, but she would take any mercy her brain came up with. Wiping her stinging hands on the metal beside her Dag kept moving. Silent, prowling, crouched low in the red-drenched hallway, her ears and eyes on alert for anything that moved.

A million years ago it seemed that Shale had taken her on her first hunt, on a planet bathed in the bright red-light of a dying sun. A test, a trial won, a beast twice her mentors size lay dead at her feet, shot down by her hand-made arrows. The ancient weapon of her ancestors. She had been a ghost in the pink snow of this new and terrifying place, already two yaujtan tusks dangled from the earring on her right ear, a hunter in her own right since she was fourteen.

Dag was familiar enough with what yautjan tech looked like to know when she had been going in circles. This ship was far larger than Shale's and she was starting to become frustrated, she paused her stalking to think for a moment. It felt like she had been unconscious for several hours, she was hungry and would need to pee soon, the logistics of _where _she could pee were unappealing. Though she could just pop a squat wherever if she really felt like it, but human urine had a strong smell and that would most definitely draw unwanted attention her way.

_I could just stop looking for a way out and find their control room and royally fuck their day over… _

If she had a deathwish of course.

Her gut clenched as she remembered the aliens she had left behind, those folks that would likely never get to go home. Her hands tightened into fists and Dag stood up tall,

_Alright, fuck their shit up it is… _

Dag was, if anything, a creature driven by spite.

Her mind clear she crawled up the wall using the metal's architecture, ridges and shapes too small for a yautjan paw to get a hold onto. Dag slid open the screen that covered the air-pipe and crawled inside. She knew that the screen was removable for easy cleaning, and the pipes on this ship were just big enough that a fully grown Dag wouldn't get stuck. She was familiar with the design because of the ones on Shale's ship, she had spent many hours with his sister's cub playing in the ventilation until Shale and Grey-Sky had found out.

Crawling inside was a tight fit, Dag was taller than most men, broad shouldered and wide-hipped, it was luck again that she could move through the vent pipes quickly and quietly.

Her scent would likely be blown all over the ship too, possibly confusing the hell out of the yautja onboard until someone figured it out. She'd have to find the control room fast.

Teeth gritted together, hands acid burned and sore, Dag climbed her way through the ductwork, making the long dark sweaty journey towards the middle of the ship. That was were Shale's control room had been, a small hexagonal room in the most protected and structurally sound point of the vessel.

As quiet as Dag was being she began to hear yautjan voices trilling, the hissing chittering clicking made the hair along the flesh of her arms stand on end. They had to be able to smell her, the pipes were sweltering hot and she was buck naked, no fabric to soak up the dripping sweat running down her face and limbs.

The world beyond the screens gave her glimpses into the ship, only occasionally Dag caught a flash of scaly alien flesh whip by before disappearing from view.

She crawled over storage units, crew rooms and what looked like a galley before she crept around the medic bay. She was close, this ship followed a similar enough pattern to Shale's that she knew she was close to the control room. It wasn't like the flight deck which needed to be oriented at the front of the ship. She could lock herself inside and cut off outside life support maybe, or just blow the whole thing skyhigh.

_No… Can't die here… not yet… _

Brushing her grim thoughts aside Dag rounded the last corner and finally found the control room. It didn't look like anyone was in there. She carefully scanned for any camouflaged distortion of space and, finding none, Dag pulled back the vent screen and dropped down into the hexagonal space. She felt strong and alert despite the heat and the sweat pouring off of her skin, yautja needed more oxygen than she did and the effects of this atmosphere were taking their toll. It was fine in short bursts but too much and she could pass out or have a seizure.

Dag quickly ran over to the door and went to activate the locking mechanism but her hand paused just before she touched the buttons.

_Too risky... _

She'd probably set off an alarm.

Instead Dag sat down on the chair surrounded by thousands of blinking buttons covered in yautjan script. She settled in and began pressing familiar buttons, while bigger this model of ship's control room was almost identical to Shale's, Dag felt a memory wiggle in the back of her mind that she couldn't quite reach. Not having the time she pushed the thought away for later.

Dag plugged in the pattern of buttons she had long ago memorized to tell her where she was and immediately the image of this ship and its surroundings appeared on the screen in front of her. It was docked in the sphere, so cutting the gravity wouldn't work. Dag typed in another memorized pattern, and the computer pulled up a map of the ship and markers for all of the lifesigns onboard.

Twenty-some yautja, and six unknown life readings Dag didn't recognize.

She couldn't see where the aliens had gone but the six identical unknowns were clustered in the space that could only be where she had woken up. Her hands clenched into fists for a moment and she swallowed down another nugget of anger. Unshed tears from earlier brimmed over and ran down her brown face, Dag sniffed and wiped them away before she angrily began to jam in the instructions for an emergency lock-down. If they were in space she'd just set the whole thing to self-destruct and take her chances getting to a spare lifepod. But they were docked at the sphere, an explosion would kill hundreds of folk unfortunate enough to be close by. The only thing Dag could do is make sure the yautja onboard would stay put until the authorities arrived.

She had to get out a message.

More sweat beaded down her face, mouth dry Dag began punching in a sequence to message Shale's ship, she was sure she could remember the code he used on his wrist device to give it instructions. Dag wasn't sure how to send a message any other way, she could barely read the symbols flashing in front of her, if she could she'd broadcast where she was and what was going on to everything able to receive it in the sphere. But that was beyond her, and she was running out of time.

The distant pounding of yautja feet along the hallways below and above her shot electric adrenaline into her bloodstream. Hands shaking, Dag punched in a basic message, her name and where the ship was docked, and sent it to Shale's ship. Several tense moments passed before the computer acknowledged that the message had been received.

Dag could breathe again. Help would be coming soon. She just had to make sure she lived to see it.

Dag slipped off of the smooth chair and wiped her hot sweat from the seat before crawling up the wall and back into the hot air vents. She hauled ass as quietly as possible through the tubes, her eyes sharp for any weapon stockpiles she could raid or pointy object left unattended in any of the rooms.

Occasionally she passed over a yautja, snarling and angry, working on the doors that she had shut and locked. There were few enough of them on this big ship that she rarely saw two together. When she'd locked the doors she hadn't been sure if it was just the outside doors or if the inner ones would be included, to her amusement it seemed that they were.

_Praise you lady luck, I won't forget this, I won't… _

Dag wasn't sure of a higher power, but by how much she had gotten away with in the last three hours without getting in a single fight might just convince her that, right this moment, something was on her side.

Maybe it was her mom and dad and little brothers guiding her to safety, who knew, regardless, it was a comforting thought.

Dag passed by another one of the duct screens and while she couldn't understand the language she could recognize one of the voices. She looked down to see Dawn-Whispers and another yautja in a heated argument, their low sharp hissing and clicks cut through the air like needled blades.

Though tempted to stay and see if Dawn-Whispers got the shit kicked out of him by the bigger yautja Dag knew she couldn't linger, the scent of her sweat would become too strong for them to ignore.

Just then her luck ran out.

A fat drop of sweat slipped from Dag's nose and she watched, helpless, as it fell on the bigger yautja's head. They immediately cut Dawn-Whispers off and looked up at the air-duct, looked straight up at Dag.

The odds couldn't have been worse, she was soaking wet with sweat, stark nude, and completely weaponless.

Might as well make a memorable entrance.

"Hey, how's it hangin'?" Dag's voice was bright and didn't waver with a flicker of fear, she'd met bigger, meaner yautja than these two bad bloods. Dag slid back the screen of the air duct and dropped down to the center of the room, landing light on her feet.

She must have surprised them a great deal, since she didn't feel the iron blow of a fist or the hot pain of a set of claws.

Dag stood up leisurely, stretched, flicked the sweat from her brow onto the floor, her garnet dark eyes followed the cat-pupiled predators that were now watching her.

Dawn-Whispers was the first to react, the blades of his gauntlet extended with a heart-stopping click and he stepped forward with his arm raised ready to cut her to pieces. But just as Dag had sprung back the other bigger yautja's paw struck the blades down.

Dag watched as this visibly older yautja began clicking and hissing at the youth. This one's loc's weren't black, but a very dark grey, a few were almost as grey as some of Shale's. They were two and a half meters tall, muscles as thick as her head swelled on their biceps and solid veins carrying glowing green blood roped over the meat of their thighs. This one had seen their fair share of cycles, and the way they firmly put Dawn-Whispers down made it clear that whatever rank they held in this group was high.

Hissing like a cobra Dawn-Whispers retracted his blades, sharp eyes glaring at Dag, the older however was studying her intently from where she was crouched.

She didn't have a weapon, and that alone was what kept her spine where it was meant to be.

Dag stood, smoothed her soaking sweaty mohawk back and rubbed her hands together, "So, can y'all point me over to a bathroom?"


	11. Chapter 11

[trigger warning: sexual abuse mention]

The silence that drenced the room was as thick as custard, Dag stared at the yautja across from her, a smile plastered on her face.

"Like, I gotta pee guys, can you do me a solid and help me find a bathroom? I'd _really _appreciate it,"

Dawn-Whispers had his head tilted to the side, his eyes squinted at her and then he jabbed a finger in her direction, his speech clicking fast and harsh against Dag's ears. Dag's laid back attitude seemed to be getting on his nerves, at least as far as she could tell.

"Hey, I literally can't hear half of your language, asshole. Talk in a way I can understand or I'll piss on the floor,"

The older yautja emitted an amused trill just as Dawn-Whispers hissed, the bigger one's paw thumped Dawn-Whispers shoulder and they stroad over to Dag in one enormous step. Their hands extended a polite greeting and Dag responded in kind.

This one knows of us? The big yautja's hands asked in the same style of handspeech Dag had used to talk to Dawn-Whispers in the club.

"Yeah, spent a lot of time with one called Stalks-at-Dusk, you lot aren't from the homeworld are you?"

The older Yautja's trilling laugh was deeper than Shale's and sent shivers up Dag's spine. They were huge, not nearly as big as some she'd seen but still pretty 'effing large, their mandibles flared as their head tilted to appraise her.

Brazen. Asking questions. Locked in a room with us. They gestured to themself and Dawn-Whispers, who splayed their mandibles in a threatening display.

"I mean, if you want to rip apart a defenseless womb-bearer that's on your honor buddy."

Dag had struck a nerve, Dawn-Whispers looked away from her as the older one hissed, She was unimpressed, but grateful that these yautja had the decency to follow some part of the code their ancestors put down.

If the older yautja cared or not of her calling their bluff they made no indication, they jabbed a claw at the door. This is your doing?

Dag made a face, "What? The door?"

More irritated clicking Dawn-Whispers banged a fist on the metal and hissed. It will not open. His fingers cut the air in agitation.

Feigning innocence Dag frowned and walked over to the door, she attempted to open it a few times, her back to the yautja behind her. Despite Dawn-Whispers hissing she could hear the older one clicking over the petty noise, she desperately wished she could understand what the hell they were saying. Dag tried to open the door again and turned around to face them,

"I… wasn't kidding earlier, _I really need a bathroom, _are you sure this is the only door?" Dag must have made a good show of uncertainty in her voice because Dawn-Whispers lost his temper and punched the wall closest to him.

_Ugh… wall puncher… yikes… _

The only time Shale had _ever _lost his temper like that was when she'd been completely honest with him of what was done to her family. Even then she knew it wasn't directed at her, even then she had felt safe with him.

"I have to find somewhere to piss…" Dag muttered loud enough for them to hear as she made her way to climb up back to the air ducts, she hadn't expected to make it far and wasn't surprised when the older yautja stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.

"_Listen! _I don't actually fancy popping a squat in front of y'all-"

The yautja's mandibles stretched wide and they roared in her face to cut her off. Dag had this happen to her enough times that even after all these years her gut and face tightened to quell the instinct to flinch and shrink away. After the ear-drum rending sound passed over her she screamed back at them at the top of her lungs, making a point to screech longer than they did. Caught off-guard by the human's response the older yautja was stunned still enough that Dag could shrug their hot hand from her shoulder.

Dag huffed, the extra oxygen was making her bold,

"What? Mad you're gonna miss the show? Piss freak?" Dag hissed through her teeth before turning to crawl back the way she came. This had been interesting and had stopped the two of them from trying to drag her from the vent pipes by her ankles, but she seriously needed to leave. Dag wasn't sure how much longer she could toe the line between being a charming asshole and an asshole run through with shish-kabob blades. That and she really did have to pee.

A hand grabbed her shoulder again and Dag didn't resist as she was pulled back and shoved toward Dawn-Whispers. A lot of clicking and ill-tempered hissing was being directed at the black-loc'd youth and he was absolutely still as he listened. Dag glanced at the air vent again, wondering if her posturing had just bit off more than she could chew.

After some more pointing and hissing the older yautja left them to investigate the air shaft Dag had dropped down from. Dag stepped aside and looked up at Dawn-Whispers,

"Not to hurt your feelings or anything but this is the lousiest date I've been on in a while,"

That got her a furious growl and Dag smothered a smile. Dawn-Whispers took the mask that was strapped to his back and shoved it into Dag's arms. She stared at him until his hands formed words.

Use this. Be quick. To emphasise his point he tapped a claw on the inner part of the mask.

Dag blinked, "Use? You mean pee in your mask?"

The loud hiss was her affirmative answer. Dag looked down at the mask she held, the equipment she knew was waterproof and could work in the most extreme weather. A little pee was nothing to tech like this. Doubtful anyone would be keen to wear it again though. But it made more sense than leaving a piss puddle on the floor.

_Jesus fuggin' christ… fucks sake… this might as well happen to me… my life is so fucking weird. _

Dag swore under her breath and found a quiet corner in the storage room to give herself some amount of privacy. She'd peed in some dirty, uncomfortable places, but this had to take the cake for the most awkward.

_Well… except for that time Fish's boyfriend was taking a dump and I had to piss in the tub… _

Fish and Hutch had laughed their asses off just outside the door, that was before they'd graduated flight academy. Dag wondered if they were doing anything interesting, maybe sipping beers and whisky at the red rocket. Maybe Hutch finally had that heart attack.

Dag had been squatting long enough to drip dry and she gingerly got to her feet, hoping that she'd see tomorrow and that this moment would be another funny memory.

It wasn't yet though.

Dag walked back into view of the moody yautja and crossed her arms as she leaned onto one of the strange containers,

"Either of you have any idea what could make the doors lock like this?" Dag asked aloud, it was what she'd have asked if she hadn't done it herself.

Dag got nothing but an irritated hiss from Dawn-Whispers, the older yautja was by the door again, ignoring both of them. Rolling her eyes Dag sat down and leaned against a wall, they weren't going to let her leave, or attack her, so she was stuck.

_Stuck until Shale and Baal come to gut these fucknuts..._

Long minutes went by and Dag felt the dryness in her throat stretch as she sat sweating in the hot red room. Occasionally Dawn-Whispers would glance her way, eyes narrowed, before resuming typing on his gauntlet, the older one had taken Dag's metitiative approach, sitting cross-legged in silence.

Dag closed her eyes, time dripped past like the condensation on a glass of ice cold beer.

Though calm and still she was hyper alert to the deadly snakes that shared her space in the room. After a while the claws tapping on Dawn-Whispers gauntlet ceased and Dag was aware of his stare focused on her.

A few clicks and rumblings were exchanged between him and the near grey yautja, if she could wager a guess they were discussing her, how she'd gotten out, maybe wondering if she'd been impregnated.

Dag didn't move as the pressure of Dawn-Whispers grew closer, didn't twitch as the hot stillness shifted between them and her instincts began to coil tight.

_Now._

Dag's hand shot out and grabbed all four of Dawn-whispers tusks in the grip of her strong fingers. Her digits were thin and nimble enough to slip between the slim space of his mandibles and his mouth and she was able to take full advantage of his yautjan physiology.

Her eyes flicked open, a cold grin cut across her face as she stared into the shocked round eyes of the yautja youth, loud trilling laughter from the older one across the room echoed around them as Dawn-Whispers struggled to move his mandibles free. Dags fist clenched down hard and he stopped, yautja mandibles, though dangerous, were a bit like an alligators maw, easy to keep shut.

And easy to break if you knew how.

Dag pulled Dawn-Whispers close by his mandibles and hissed through her blunt white teeth.

_"Boo." _

Then with all of her strength Dag shoved Dawn-Whispers back and let go, he didn't fall but he fumbled, his youth showed bare to her as he clicked his tusks in confusion.

The older yautja chirped at her to get Dag's attention. Not so defenseless. They signed before pointing a long black talon at her.

Black claws splayed wide as they mimed grabbing their mouth with their hand and then pointed at her again, head cocked to the side questioningly.

So it had come up.

"I can't be absolutely sure I didn't get one stuck in me, but I did squash the egg that was close by. Killed that thing inside of it before I got out of your little kink dungeon." Dag sniffed and inspected the black polish on her nails. It was already chipping. "counting my dead one and the others I saw that makes…. oh seven eggs? So there should be six…. Whatchacallits snacking on their hosts corpses right about now."

She was answered with a thick snort, glancing up she saw the round yellow eyes of the dark grey loc'd one on her, slit pupils narrow and contemplative. They had their fair share of scars, long healed welts caused by restraints and chains roped around what Dag could see of the joints at their limbs. She would probably see some at the neck too if their metal collar wasn't covering it.

_Just like Ahhve… _

Even after thirty some cycles of shedding the scars and dents in their cobalt blue exoskeleton hadn't completely faded away, yet no mark on Ahhve's body was ever as gnarled and ugly as what Dag saw on the yautja in front of her now.

What are you known by? Dag asked in hand speech, her movements calm and polite.

A long stare and silence settled between them, interrupted only by Dawn-Whispers nervous hissing and chittering.

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes. The older yautja answered.

Dag had to smother the urge to smile,

_Fucking edgy name there hombre. _

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes pointed at the door again. You did this.

It wasn't a question.

Dag sucked on her teeth and tried to look guilty, "I might have by accident now that I think about it. A bit ago when I was crawling through the vents I fell though one of the screens, my ass landed on this big computer in a six walled room some ways up." Dag pointed in the direction of the control room and a lethal hiss from Dawn-Whispers was the only warning she got before he lunged for her throat.

Quick on her feet Dag jumped over him, her foot landed on his back and she vaulted herself off in a huge leap and made a dash towards the air vent. Maybe, just maybe she could climb on through and get away.

She scrambled up the wall and almost reached the vent when a big hot paw grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. Much to her surprise she didn't fall upside down or flat on her back, Dag had been yanked into the hot leathery arms of the older, scarred yautja.

Dag forced her body to relax despite her natural instinct to freeze or fight, to her bemusement they were holding her casually, like a child almost.

"Sorry, I get cold feet," Dag laughed off her failed escape attempt to soothe her mounting anxiety, she didn't know how much longer she could feign innocence. Hopefully they would just think she was stupid or crazy, not worth a fight.

Still cradled in Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes thick muscled arms Dag threw her head back far enough to see Dawn-Whispers, who was getting up off the floor and growling, murder in his amber eyes.

"You takin' notes there sweetie?" Dag called out, "_This_ is how you pick up a lady."

_That _promptly got her dropped on the floor.

Dag felt the weight of gravity and turned mid-air to land on her knees, in an instant she was back on her feet facing the green skinned aliens. Dawn-Whispers was glaring at her and Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes was still trilling with laughter.

Dag had a firm feeling that the only reason she was still uninjured was because he found her amusing.

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes clever cat slit pupils looked at her, their iris the color of the yellow in the baby tempera paints she used to share with her brothers, yellow like the buttercups and daisies she'd seen in pictures of earth. Yellow like the taste of sour milk, the smell of sulfur and the hot sweat that was collecting in the groves on Dag's skin.

Dag licked her chapped lips and leaned against the wall, maybe an hour had passed since she'd dropped into this room uninvited, it had been roughly thirty minutes before that when she'd sent the message.

_Shale… _

…..

_"SHALE!" _

Ahhve hissed as they ducked to avoid one of Dag's heavy books from colliding with their head.

Shale only grunted as he carelessly pulled out the items from the storage bin that Dag had left behind with him in his ship before going back to be with other humans.

The constable and her people had been little help, busy with arrests and their damned paperwork. So now they were on with the next option, looking for the equipment Dag left for Shale to be able to find her with.

It was a small device that was linked to the small metal disk Dag had gotten implanted in her head when she was a baby. A precaution made by her parents in a time of war, before they'd moved to the farm. Just in case they got separated, or needed to identify her body. A precaution, as long as the disk was in her skull her mother and father would have been able to find her.

Shale would be able to find her too, if he could find the other bloody half.

Another human artifact went whizzing toward Ahhve's head and they deftly caught it before it could make impact.

_"Shale!" _Ahhve's tone was scolding, they looked down at the small object and with a flush of anger went over and lightly smacked the top of Shale's head.

_"Be careful with what you throw!" _Ahhve held the worn hand carved picture frame delicately, the time that passed with space travel had aged it almost a hundred years, the human faces frozen on the glossy sheet had dulled with time. Ahhve looked down and the leathery velvet pads of their fingers brushed over the acrylic sheet holding the picture in place.

"You could have hurt them," they said softly.

Shale only growled impatiently and pulled out the bin to dump the rest of the contents onto the ship's storage room. A mixture of the salvaged items from her ruined human life and the things she'd picked up living with Shale spilled and scattered on the metal tiled floor. Books, clothes that no longer fit, her father's jewelry box and her mother's hunting knives, some plush animals, bones, rocks, fabrics and nicknacks bought or traded or stolen from over a dozen inhabited worlds.

Ahhve slowly bent down and picked up the woven fiber bracelet they'd made for Dag, the bright colors hadn't faded but it was a little more worn than they remembered. Ahhve slipped it on over their wrist and carefully set the picture frame aside,

"Are you sure you put it back in here?"

"_Yes I'm sure!" _Shale hissed hotly, "where else could it be?"

Their only other option after this would be to set out on foot, pray to the universe that Shale or Ahhve picked up the scent of Baal or Dag and then track them down the old fashioned way. Any yautja that were in the sphere weren't registered at any of the docking ports, so they wouldn't be able to track them down through any computers.

That was how they'd found the slavers the other time Dag had been stolen away. Humans weren't rare or particularly unusual, but their instinctual pack-bonding and psycological malleability made them valuable flesh to traffic in a certain market. Human bodies were fragile, but their minds could be stretched and molded with the kind of psychological trauma and pressure most creatures would shatter under.

Make it a pet, make it a doll, make it a slave, a servant, make a lover perhaps. The possibilities were endless.

Ahhve hadn't been old enough to go along, but they remembered the state Shale and Dag and Baal had been in when they'd come back. It had been the incident that made Shale ask Dag if she wanted to rest from the hunt. Just for a while. The trail for the white hunter had gone cold, and the sphere wasn't good for her. Not at that time. Not at her age.

It was only recently Baal and Ahhve had tracked down the final slaver, Garnilian.

He'd remembered Baal. And he remembered Dag. Before Ahhve's poison could cut him down he took delight in tormenting Ahhve with what he'd done to her. Insidious words whispered in a cracked and bleeding voice, Baal's harsh clicks and hisses for Garnilian to _shut up _did nothing to stop the words making their way into Ahhve's ears.

Ahhve had meant what they'd said to Dag when they told her they were proud of her, that she was brave to still have love in her to give.

A wetness slipped down Ahhve's face, their species had evolved tear ducts similar to Dag's, though the fluid was more jelly-like, and ran much more freely.

The thick viscous tears didn't go unnoticed to Shale but he didn't pause, he couldn't afford to. He'd promised Dag she'd never be taken again. _He promised. _

Beside him Ahhve reached out to pick up the strange object Dag had once used as a weapon. It was carved from the rib of a creature Shale had hunted down for her for this exact purpose. Long, curved, a corded string was tied to a notch at the top, Ahhve remembered how Dag had used her foot to steady the bone and the strength needed to string this instrument.

She'd called it a bow.

Ahhve ran their fingers over the gleaming polished surface, they could still hear the sound her arrows made when they sank into the flesh of the white hunter.

The visceral memory caused Ahhve to stand up and set the bow down,

"I am going to look somewhere else,"

Shale only grunted but Ahhve had already left the room.

Their feet were quiet as they padded down the hallway of Shale's ship. It had only been built for one, but the three of them had made it work for almost a full season, until it had broken down and needed repairs. That was when they met Baal.

Head full of the grim memories of their youth Ahhve walked the familiar path towards Shale's trophy room. Their glossy dark eyes scoured the floor for anything, but they seriously doubted Shale had just dropped the homing device. They just didn't know what else to do, they felt useless. Just like when they were young.

_Useless, helpless, weak, _

Jaws clenched, Ahhve entered through the sliding doors into the room they hated most on this ship. Thousands of skulls looked back at them, polished and gleaming darkly in the quiet.

The lights underneath the skull displays lit up upon Ahhve's entrance, setting all in the circular room aglow. Racks upon racks of skulls adorned the three meter high walls, collected by Shale before he started culling those of his race that would abandon their ways for theivery, slaughter, rape and war.

Ahhve briskly walked to the farthest end of the room, bent down and started looking over the floor underneath the displays. They wanted to look in this place first to get it out of the way as soon as possible. All these skulls reminded them of was the ship of the bad bloods and how they'd been chained and imprisoned there for the outlaws amusement.

Ahhve tried to distract themself by remembering Shale's description of the homing device for Dag's chip. Although anything other than dead bones in here would warrant some investigation.

Creeping on the floor and feeling along under the displays Ahhve mindlessly searched for anything out of the ordinary, mind fogged over with worry.

Unlike everywhere else on the ship this room was meticulously clean, but Ahhve did find the one odd chip of bone or scale every now and then, so they weren't surprised when they swept what looked like a tooth from under the displays.

Except-

The shape of it was… odd, square and flat, not like most that was in here, fangs and needle teeth. Interesting, it warranted Ahhve picking it up and inspecting it.

It wasn't completely flat, though definitely square shaped, a smooth point rose for each corner and the divet in the center reminded Ahhve of a valley between a twin set of tiny hills.

There was something familiar about it…

In the days before she left Dag had opened her mouth to show Ahhve what had been causing her jaw to ache.

The pain Dag had gave Shale quite a bit of worry, a tooth problem from some time before had nearly killed her once already. But she had reassured everyone that what was happening was natural for her. She'd very proudly called the living bone erupting from her pink gums wisdom teeth.

The small, white, pebble-like tooth with a valley between four peaks looked exactly like it.

Already dry, the insides of Ahhve's throat and mouth grew tight and as course as hot sand. Their dark pupils narrowed into fat slits as they turned the tooth over and over with their delicate fingers. It was old, clearly, long dead and dry. Could have belonged to a plant eater of some kind, it was shaped similarly enough, couldn't possibly be Dag's tooth, unless she'd neglected to mention that they shed.

Why would Shale have a human tooth in his trophy room? This was the resting place of his honored prey, memories of lives lived to the fullest given shape in a place of reverence. He'd told Ahhve he had practiced the ritual of the hunt in his youth, an important trial for honor and status among his people. It was the way he and his kind showed their gratitude and respect for life and the cosmos.

Though Ahhve didn't understand or could bring themself to harm one undeserving, they appreciated the care and respect Shale showed these bones. He spoke of them like living objects and treated them preciously.

Ahhve stared at the tooth for an agonizing amount of time, the skin of their scalp felt hot and heavy as their quills prickled with anger.

Setting the tooth down on the display Ahhve started looking with an agitated quickness. Under the displays, inside the equipment cabinets, checking and rechecking for false bottoms and hidden slots. From far off in the ship Ahhve could hear Shale moving towards the flight cockpit, probably going to search in there now that he had exhausted the storeroom.

Furiously Ahhve racked their brain to think of where _they_ might possibly be. Shale never threw anything away unless it was rotting. They had to be in here, anywhere else on the ship and Ahhve and Dag would have found them cycles ago, this was the only room both of them avoided. For Dag it was out of respect. But for Ahhve it reminded them too much of the white hunter for them to ever be comfortable here.

Like a bolt of electricity striking down and cracking against a dark sky it dawned on Ahhve what the only other hiding place was.

Hands, dry and shaking, they began prying Shale's trophies from the wall.

It didn't take long for Ahhve to find what they were looking for.

And another...

And another…

And another...

Ahhve set them down on the bottom of the display cases, their dark pupils were slivers of black glass against fiery eyes, mandibles flexing in agitation as one by one they pried human skulls from their careful hiding places.

Stuffed inside the heads of monsters. Hidden in plain sight.

Ahhve found ones stained with age, some were cracked or broken, carefully mended, others missing teeth, some with teeth that were metal or fake.

Ten…

Twenty…

Thirty…

Ahhve was only halfway through the display wall when they heard Shale's feet running toward the trophy room. The newest skull they had uncovered still held in their hands, Ahhve gazed into the blank eye sockets and gripped it tight.

"Ahhve!" Shale's trill was high pitched enough to grate Ahhve's ears, his clicks were echoing off of the ships hallways as he rushed to get the cobalt blue alien, "Dag sent a message! We-"

Shale's running momentum propelled him into the room and the sight he saw laid out before him made his hearts seize..

Ahhve slowly looked up from the far side of the room, clutching a human skull, the silence that stretched out between them as Shale was pierced by the other aliens bright yellow eyes was colder than anything that Shale had ever known.

Shale couldn't bare to look at them anymore, his eyes glanced down to take in the scene in his trophy room, dozens of human skulls rested quietly, all staring at him.

Grinning.

"Who is this?" Ahhve whispered quietly,

Shale snapped his eyes back to the thin creature and the bones they held.

"Ahhve… we don't have time," Shale clicked, his voice calm but sharp,

Ahhve's furious radiant eyes glossed over and welled with syrupy tears. _"Time..? Time..? Where is their time Shale?" _Ahhve shook the skull they held, _"who is this Shale!? Huh? Do you know who this is?" _

Shale's mandibles twitched, bis chest and forehead burned with heat and his hands flexed for nothing to grab, _"Ahhve-" _

_"THIS IS DAG, SHALE! ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE DAG!" _

They set down the skull as gently as their anger would allow, the noise it made as it hit the display case echoed in the room. Ahhve strode over to Shale with murderous intent, eyes flashing, jaws flexing in a splayed grimace.

_"And Dag will be them unless we find her." _Ahhve hissed in Shale's face, towering over the protector and mentor they'd known most of their life, thick liquid slipped down their face and into their mouth as their jaws shuddered and twitched with fury.

"_And so shall you be if we find her defiled or dead. I shall kill you and burn you and scatter your ash into the void so that you may feed NOTHING!" _

Ahhve pushed past Shale to walk out of the room and it took a moment for Shale to be able to conquer the numbness in his limbs to follow them.

The ripping heartache that bloomed in his chest made it difficult to walk, difficult to think.

_Baal was right… I should have gotten rid of these.._

He'd hidden the skulls away after Dag had first seen them, the incident had shattered the budding trust they'd established so profoundly it took almost a year until he could touch her without inspiring fear or rage.

Shale hadn't felt guilty when Dag had discovered the skulls, only angry at himself for not thinking to hide them sooner so she would not be frightened.

Now though,

_They are Dag… _

The thought of her skull, or the skull of Baal or Ahhve resting on a trophy display made him feel empty and sick. Not because it made them prey, everything alive was prey, that was life. What bothered him was the loss, the loss of his off world family. They didn't judge him for not wanting children, nor pick apart his hunting decisions, or antagonize with question after bitter question. The loss of that comfort, the ability to live his truth, to no longer be able to speak or touch or smell their scent or hear their thoughts...

Chest cold and forehead hot, Shale closed the door to his ship as Ahhve waited, pupils still slits, arms crossed tight against them and quills almost dripping with purple poison.

"The message came in from one of the freight ships docking near-"

_"Do not speak to me," _Ahhve snapped, voice savage and raw, face wet from crying, "Wherever you go I will follow."

Shale hesitated, he wanted to explain, he wanted to apologize, he didn't want Ahhve to find out like this. Anything but this.

But there wasn't any time.

He knew at the very least where Dag was, that she was well enough to find a way to send a message to his ship. They had to get moving before that changed.

Shale put on his mask and started running down the dock, his long legs picking up to a sprint, He could hear Ahhve behind him keeping pace. Folk parted and leapt out of the way as they barreled past, some called out to them but neither paid any mind.

The only thing either could think about was finding Dag.


	12. Chapter 12

Baal was awoken by a shriek that cut through the echoing din around her like a hot knife. She was cold, wet with filth, her back felt like it was being split open and torn apart by needles. Her head pounded, her mouth was dry and her stomach growled unhappily.

She sighed in a big huff, she must have gotten a moment or so of sleep to have been awoken so abruptly. Baal rubbed at her sore eyes and gave a big yawn, retching when a drop of something foul touched her tongue. Growling softly she licked her nose to get rid of the taste, she looked outside of her tiny cell but all she could see in front of her was empty cages.

There came another shriek off above her, what followed it was a hard chittering growl and then another call rang out. Baal shifted to try to crain her long neck to see but the force field surrounding the bars of the cell gave her a sharp shock when she brushed against the barrier. She hissed in irritation.

_What in the cosmos is going on up there? _

Licking her mouth and growling she tried to stretch, Baal's muscles burned with the agony as if a dull blade was burrowing deep into her flesh and her ears laid flat to her head at the pain.

_Everything is temporary, this pain will be temporary, keep your head... keep your head… _

Above her there came more sounds of comotion, an alarm started to go off and the shouting of her fellow prisoners grew louder and more distressed. Way off she began to dimly hear words she could understand.

"_Cut them off! Cut them off!" _it was a yautjan voice with a commanding bearing.

More howls, slowly the silence grew until Baal could make out individual screams and death cries.

_What had happened? _

Tense, Baal's ears laid back again and her yellow eyes watched intently, listening and waiting. She began making a mental tally of each voice that was silenced, winching at the now audible crack of bone and cry of pain that she was able to hear now that there was less screaming.

Soon there was only one left, and then, silence.

Footsteps made their way over to her cage and Baal was finally able to look her captors in the eye, her tongue licked her lips, though the gag that clamped her jaw made her unable to open wide enough to bite or speak.

Four large grown yautja encircled the door to her cage, their bio-masks dark and expressionless.

_So? Is this how it ends? Bound and slaughtered for? What? _

"Shoot it," one of the yautja clicked at another,

A thin adolescent lifted up a slim burner and aimed it at Baal, her six eyes pierced into the blank mask of the child and she blinked calmly as her expression softened.

_Forgiveness, but only for you, little one. _

The burner fired without a sound and a dart sank into the center of Baal's chest. She flinched in surprise, then eyed the youth, her eyes narrowed and her chuffing rumbled deep in her throat. Her gaze took in each yautja that stood in front of her cage, waiting for her to pass out, presumably, so they could take her to… somewhere not here.

_Always did like a good surprise… _

Baal purred to herself and settled down to close her eyes and wait for sleep, she needed it, and it would be a nice respite from the pain.

…..

Dag had a throbbing dehydration headache. She estimated it had been about five hours total since she escaped, two… maybe three since she'd sent Shale her message.

_Hurry the fuck up you overgrown toad… _

Dag wondered when her blood would be too dry to sweat, or if when she'd pass out from the extra oxygen, which would come first if the yautja didn't killed her soon.

_Too fucking angry to die… too fucking angry… _

Dag watched listlessly as the two yautja were absorbed in their own conversation, furious clicking trills and rumbles, their language was like ice crushing boulders into sand. She let her eyes flutter shut, like before she kept aware of her surroundings, she was a light sleeper anyway. Except when she was drunk or lying beside Shale. Or sitting in his lap while he was in the cockpit of his ship, his chest touching hers as the rhythm of two hearts lulled her to sleep.

Dag flinched. Something had tickled the deepest part of her brain and her instincts had lit up like she'd been set on fire. Alert, she sprang to her feet, the yautja in the room were antsy too, something had changed.

"Did you guys hear anything?" Dag asked, her voice flat and serious.

Dawn-Whispers hissed at her to be silent and earned himself a reprimanding click from his elder.

Someone has cried out. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes gestured, he slowly pointed up above them and to his left.

Dag warily walked closer to the testy aliens, yautja or no, she knew their folk better than most and would sooner have these two at her back than whatever the fuck was creeping around this ship.

_Though I'll be fucked dumb if I give either of them an inch… _

Licking her dry lips with a sandpaper tongue, Dag crossed her damp sticky arms and tiredly leaned against the wall with a healthy distance between her and the thong wearing space-bastards.

"How much y'all wanna bet it was just someone bustin' a good nut?" Dag looked over at the two of them and couldn't deny it was good to hear amused clicks coming from both.

Cry of pain. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes made the hand signs slowly, not watching her but listening.

You did not say how you escaped. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes now turned and looked Dag over sharply.

Dag cocked her head to the side, "no one asked…" she glanced over to Dawn-Whispers warily, "the thing I killed, from the egg, it bled acid onto the floor and that dissolved through the metal. Made a hole big enough for me to jump down into the hallway below."

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes trilled in hearty laughter, he grabbed Dawn-Whispers shoulder and gave him a shake before sitting back down on a storage box.

He clicked something to Dawn-Whispers and the young yautja froze, then turned to face Dag, eyes blazing. He pointed at her and uttered a series of shrill clicks and growls but Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes only laughed over him.

Dag leaned back against the opposite wall and crossed her arms in an attempt to hide how nervous she was.

_They heard a scream right? I didn't see anything on this ship other than yautja and… whatever those things are… they couldn't… they're only hours old… nothing can gestate that quickly… right? _

Despite the heat Dag's hands were clammy, the only thing keeping her calm was Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes nonchalance, she'd worry when he was worried.

_Well, trust my luck that he'd be fucking crazy… _

Dag swallowed in an effort to relieve her dry throat, unless Shale, Baal and Ahhve had found her the only other culprit behind the scream could be the things that birthed from her fellow prisoners. She had a feeling that she was going to find out soon.

Suddenly the sound of ripping metal filled the still hot air and Dag reflexively covered her ear and the lobe-less hole on the side of her head to block out the shrieking noise.

The door was wrenched open a sliver and a yautjan hand pushed the sliding door to the side and forced it to give way. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes uttered a welcoming series of clicks to the yautja who had freed them.

Seeing everyone distracted Dag looked up at the air vent she had crawled out of hours ago, wondering if she could climb up the walls and make it there in time. She heard a snort of irritation and heard Dawn-Whispers walk over to her and made to grab her arm.

Dag shoved his leathery hand away and snarled at him through her blunt teeth. "_What'd I ever do to you?" _

She stood strong, shoulders braced, anger hot as coal ash in her throat and chest. Dag wasn't surprised that Dawn-Whispers ignored her and roughly clasped the meat of her upper arm. Even as big as his hands were his mitt was only just able to wrap complete around her thick bicep.

Dag's eyes grew as black and as sharp as lava-glass and her tongue wagged harsh. "_Fucking coward you are, _where do you get off drugging folk and draggin' them back to this shit-ass hovel. It ain't _fucking _natural treating prey like that, what? You 'fraid you'll break a claw hunting? Huh? Too weak to play fair?"

The only way she got out as much as she did was because the sheer weight of her insults had struck Dawn-Whispers numb. His alien slit-pupiled eyes stared at her and Dag's mouth curled in satisfaction at the cowed, stupid expression he had on his face.

A twitch of his mandible was her only warning, but it was enough.

Dag let the weight of her body collapse beneath her legs and twisted her way out of Dawn-Whispers grasp, quick as a lick of flame she darted back from him. The skin of her upper arm was sporting a red friction burn but she'd avoided being deboned like a fish.

From behind her Dag could hear loud clicks and growls from the other yautja and her smile widened. Didn't take a rocket scientist to know his shipmates were giving him a through ribbing.

Hissing, Dawn-Whispers darted for her and Dag slipped through his clawed hands like a ribbon of silk. Shale was far, _far_, faster than than this whelp. Dag could almost laugh as she kept up with Dawn-Whispers, her words had gotten what she wanted, being mad made you stupid.

Mandibles splayed wide, Dawn-Whispers bellowed a roar that rattled her teeth before he stripped off a bladed spinning disk and swung it at her.

Out of pure instinct Dag's hand flashed up and clipped the underneath of the device's metal casing, it was groved in such a way that her delicate human fingers could gain purchase, and using the momentum of the deadly weapon Dag let it arch above her head and held it there as it spun. Her fingers still in the slick metal groove as the demonic bladed frisbee spun like a top above her. All of the dry humor that had been at her eyes had now drained as her mouth relaxed into a flat smooth line. Like a discus thrower of old Dag pulled her arm back and slung the disk blade at Dawn-Whispers.

It missed him by barely an inch, slicing off several black locs before burrowing itself into the wall behind him. Glowing green blood dappled the tiled floor and Dawn-Whispers hissed, his mandibles didn't stop moving as his bright eyes stared murder into hers.

Dag's leg's felt like jelly, she couldn't believe how lucky that had been, her whole body felt clammy despite the heat and her heart pounded against her chest. Snatching the spinning disc from the air had been as practiced and well-rehearsed a motion as pulling on a shirt. She and Ahhve had gotten quite deft at throwing and catching dangerous objects while under Shale's care, a good game for bored adolescents. Who'd have thought him letting her and Ahhve play with his discs would ever come to anything.

_How the ever loving fuck am I still alive? _

Excited trills and clicks hollered at them and Dag relaxed her fighting stance, as far as she was concerned the fight was over and by the body language of the other yautja she felt comfortable guessing they were of a similar mind.

Dag calmly walked over to Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes and the two that stood leaning in the wrecked doorway, all regarded her with amused trills.

One of the yautja in the doorway, a tall youth with a hide the color of swamp-water, uttered a sharp series of clicks at Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes. The grey-loced yautja listened with a tilt to his head, his yellow eyes eerily human when shrouded in contemplation.

Dawn-Whispers furious hissing hadn't stopped but his sound defeat had apparently mollified him enough to think straight. Not even sparing a glance at his bladed disc he went over to the doorway and pulled the other new yautja close. Dag had never seen a female yautja that wasn't pregnant, she towered above all of them at almost three meters and she had to look down at Dawn-Whispers as he clicked at her ill-temperedly.

Dag wondered if she was a hunting mother, changing sexually to able to bear young was a serious undertaking from what Dag understood. Switching took a long time and it was impossible for their bodies to shrink back once they grew to female height, not many yautja were dedicated enough for the commitment. Deciding to carry young usually meant giving up the hunt.

Usually. Most were not as stealthy and clever as Grey-Sky was.

Pitching a sharp whistle, the tall male gestured to Dag to approach, she obeyed, her head tilted in curiosity.

Troublemaker. They signed to her with clawed fingers, Dag noted they were painted lacquer black.

With a hard smile Dag signed back. I am a hunter. A grave-digger. Troublemaker too of it pleases you.

They snorted and clicked at Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes, who trilled something that made everyone but Dag laugh.

"I can also forgo civility and piss on the floor like I promised earlier,"

This made everyone pause, swamp-water tilted his head in confusion and Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes waved it off. You let loose the Hard-meats. Troublemaker. You clean it up.

Dag's eyes narrowed, with a flurry of gestures she finally jabbed a finger at Dawn-Whispers. This one is why I am here. It is my right to stay alive. Damn your ship and your hard-meats.

As Dawn-Whispers hissed the two males trilled playfully, only the female regarded Dag with silence.

Dag watched as her long pebbled hands spoke. Troublemaker is a womb bearer. Troublemaker does not smell old nor sick. Why did this one take her? She looked down at Dawn-Whispers with a skeptical expression.

Dawn-Whispers growled defensively. He gestured, looking pointedly at Dag as he did so. She is stupid. She would make weak-minded young. That is why I took her.

Dag shrugged. This one did fool me with ease. She made a dismissive gesture with her hand at Dawn-Whispers and ignored his low growl.

A loud screech echoed suddenly and sliced through the thick hot air like a thunder clap. The female yautja darted off down the corridor and Dawn-Whispers followed her just as fast, Dag peered around the ruined door to see them both peel down the hall at great speed.

_Ah fuck… _

Dag bolted before a yautja hand could push her forward, her sweaty thighs slid over one another, frictionless, as she raced after them. It didn't take long to see what they had run after, but the sight of it was enough to make her pause.

_What the hell… IS THAT!? _

Black as ink, it gleamed in the light like some terrible spider. It's long domed head was almost suggestively phallic and as it swiveled in her direction Dag saw that it had no eyes. Dawn-Whispers and the hunting mother were focused on attacking it, on its claws and along its tail glowed neon green blood. So bright against the black armour that it hurt Dag's eyes.

It was fast. Almost as fast as Shale. Dag heard Dawn-Whispers hiss as it blocked ever swipe of his blades, the tail flicked and batted him away, leaving a long bright line of green along his arm.

_I have no weapons. I have nothing. _

A blur of black and a piercing hissing scream, green blood sprayed in a glittering arch and the hunting mother staggered away. The creature's needle-like tale had struck lucky, Dag had seen it sink into the soft socket of her eye. The blow likely mortal if it had gone in deep enough.

The alien, this, spider-snake monster, turned on Dawn-Whispers. It tackled him to the ground and Dag saw it open its maw wide.

"_HEY COCKHEAD!" _

The phallic head turned to her, blind eyes seeing all.

"_MY DICK'S BIGGER THAN YERS!" _Dag screamed at the top of her lungs, the sound still echoed in the narrow metal hallway as she sprinted toward it. She could hear the clicks of the other two yautja behind her but she didn't stop. Nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat and the thought of how _stupid _a way this was to die filled her pounding head.

The alien snarled, the thin skin of its mouth pulled back to bare translucent grey teeth, dripping, running over with clear, glossy drool.

Then, it split. Bladed metal had shot up through the monster's jaw, cracking the dome like an egg. It's shriek cut off unexpectedly and Dag slowed her sprint to a trot as Dawn-Whispers pushed the heavy armoured body off of him.

Dag stopped completely and turned to see the yautja coming up behind her. Swamp-water was giving her a good look over, his eyes narrowed and thoughtful. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes hurried past her and knelt by the hunting mother, the massive pool of glowing blood made Dag doubtful she would live.

A tap on her shoulder made her look up and swamp-water stood beside her, quickly he spoke with his fingers. You saved this one? He gestured to Dawn-Whispers with an open hand.

I am very stupid. Dag finished this statement by crossing her arms over her chest. Deep throaty trilling rumbled from swamp-water and his shoulders shook with laughter, he thumped Dag on the back and then went over to where Dawn-Whispers was licking his wounds.

A loud hiss made Dag flinch and she looked over to see Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes pick up the hunting mother, that in itself was enough to have the blood drain from Dag's face, before making way to carry her down the corridor. Swamp-water and Dawn-Whispers immediately jumped up to help him and Dag trotted after them as they rushed her to the medical bay.

The twisted black body of the alien destroyed any inclination she might have to run from them. She'd been lucky enough as it was.

Dag stood in a corner while the yautja laid out the hunting mother and started working to stop the bleeding. Dag watched as the minutes passed, Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes shooed the other two away after a while and worked on the injury alone. It was clear to Dag he was the ship's medic, and the other two had little to contribute. So they stood along the same wall as Dag and waited.

Dawn-Whispers refused to look at her, while swamp-water sat down near Dag. She accepted his company and moved to sit down next to him.

Dying? She asked with slow fingers.

He didn't acknowledge her question so Dag made a gesture of apology. At that swamp-water looked over to her, his grey-green eyes shrewd, but whatever his thoughts were he said nothing.

Dawn-Whispers started to pace. And kept pacing as the minutes dragged on. His heated gaze on the hunting mother had Dag anxiously chewing on a finger. This was, in their minds, all her fault. If the hunting mother died what then would become of her? As if trying to survive was a crime. Something that they'd been pretty tolerant towards her for, so far.

Selfish, stupid, off-worlder bastards.

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes finally set down his tools. All eyes in the room stared hard at his back as he shut off the machines and cut the power for the medical bay. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes leaned against the blood covered operating table, he was drenched in bright green up to his forearms, spurts of glowing specks dabbled his face. Dag saw him close his eyes and heard him click a few weary words to the other yautja.

Dag knew there were some pretty serious blood vessels sandwiched in that big domed skull of theirs. The monstrous alien's bladed tail must have gotten stupidly lucky and severed all if not most of them.

Dag anxiously looked over to Dawn-Whispers. If he was going to attack her out of anger now was the time. But instead he was still, his head bowed to his chest. Dag's stomach growled and she felt another bead of sweat trickle down her face. Her tongue felt hot and fat in her mouth. Dry. Her body wasn't going to be able to keep up with this much longer

_Shale? Ahhve? Baal? Where are you guys? _


	13. Chapter 13

The humidity in the lower quarters was swelling the fine feathers of Shale's gills and unbinding the sap lacquer that kept them in neat, tightly braided locs. If Shale could sweat he would have been drenched, the damp heat reminded him of the abandoned ruins on his own homeworld. Places long overgrown with thick green life after their denizens moved to dryer, more hospitable climates, before the age of heros.

"_Where the hell could they be?" _Ahhve's normally calm voice hissed out to dig into Shale like a thorn. That was the first thing they had bothered to say to him since both of them had left his ship. The word hell didn't have a translation in any of Shale's native tongues. Dag had once described it as a hot, hot place. The center of a planet's molten core. Eternal punishment for the damned.

Such stories never worked of course. Evil never paid heed. If such a place was real there would still be a need for arbitration in the realms of the living.

"The message came from one of the ships here at dock," Shale's clicks were slow, tired. "But I'm thinkin' that the signal was just re-routed through a decoy and the real ships been buried underneath one of these buildings." He glanced at Ahhve's impassive expression, "An old trick we used on populated worlds."

"On humans?"

The question had been asked in Ahhve's softest voice, but it still twisted in Shale's gut like poison.

"...and your people," Shale admitted, "and Baal's, and many others." He clicked curtly, he dared another glance at Ahhve's expression and wished he hadn't.

How much longer was he expected to pay the price for the violence of his race?

Shale felt the urge to touch the bone of his brother, smooth and blackened with age, intertwined in the fine gills of his locs.

_Until every last bad blood is dead and their deeds are forgotten with the passing of time. Such is the weight of these sins._

As they walked steam rose through the cracks in the buildings, along vents and through pipes. Everything in the alleyways dripped with sticky condensation. Strange plants and algae clung to slippery walls, Shale could feel the heat of the ground through the soles of his sandals.

Which building… which building…

Shale passed his living hand over stone and crumbling plaster, he had to alter his helmets vision to see in this wet furnace of a hell. His tongue kept flicking out for any trace of a scent of his own kind, but all he picked up was the damp rot of the lower quarters.

"Can you tell me exactly what you are looking for?"

Shale felt his mandibles twitch. _Now they wish for me to speak. _

"Disturbed ground, construction sites, places where it would be easy to hide a ship unnoticed."

Ahhve narrowed their eyes contemplatively, the sphere was a hodgepodge of junk, thousands of years of civilization built up layer upon layer upon layer. Everything looked _disturbed_ here. Still they kept their eyes sharp as they followed after Shale, ears pricked for anything out of place.

A good amount of time passed as the pair searched, Shale's soft trilling slowly pitched to an irritated hiss.

_Where are they..? _

Ahhve watched as Shale became more and more agitated. It brought back bitter memories of when Dag had been kidnapped.

_You need to calm down. _The ghost of Baal's voice echoed in Ahhve's ears, as did Shale's response.

_How can I keep calm!? You know what they do to humans! I have to find her! How could I let this happen!?_

Ahhve had been too young to go with the pair. But they clearly remembered Baal carrying Dag's limp body back from the medical center several days later. They remembered lying next to her, anxious, terrified she'd never wake up.

But of course she did. And when she did she smiled just as before, though everything had changed.

Ahhve was roused from their memories at the sound of Shale punching the mossy wall beside him. They sighed and went over to Shale,

"You must calm yourself." Ahhve said cooly. Their hands came to rest on Shale's gauntlet and they took hold of it to see the scans running on the device.

Shale's throat rattled with a thick growl, it was directed in nothing in particular so Ahhve ignored it.

"What is this?" they asked at length. Shale looked to where Ahhve was pointing on his gauntlet's hologram and after a second his eyes widened.

"We need to go underground-" Shale immediately began to move away, his mask turning side to side as he searched, "-that might be it… it just might be…"

The urgency in Shale's clicks sent a shiver through Ahhve's spine, they followed behind him swiftly and soon the two of them found a hatchway that opened to the drains below.

The dark made no difference to the aliens, both born of creatures adapted to seeing in the cloak of night. Shale's gauntlet locked onto the energy signature and they crept their way through the wet, humid tunnels underneath the lower quarter. Their near silent footsteps echoed all around them, the sounds of above were muffled by wet stone and metal. Water rained down on them from above.

Soon Shale pointed down a pathway and Ahhve slipped in front of him to take the lead. After several drenched minutes of walking Shale and Ahhve reached the point where the walls were thinnest between them and the energy signature. Shale tapped around the steel wall, feeling for an opening. This had to be the way into the ship, it was the perfect hiding place and near impossible to get to.

He plunged his hands into the water at his feet and tore away the mossy plants that clung to the metal in the flow of grey water. After a moment his living hand found a latch, Shale's hand closed around it and pushed.

The metal walls in front of them slid open, red light flooded into the drains and Shale trilled in excitement. Without a word both slipped inside before the door closed, Shale took off his mask and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What can you scent?" Ahhve asked anxiously.

Shale took a moment to exhale the excess moisture from the drains before he started smelling the air with his tongue. He immediately picked up Dag's warm human scent over the other smells that lingered.

"She's here." Shale clicked softly, his voice was muted from the wetness in his lungs. His tongue flicked out and he walked toward where the scent was strongest, his eyes came to rest on the air vent near the ceiling and his sharp snort cut the air.

"Our clever one seems to have found a way into the air system." Shale said dryly. "I'm not sure I'll be able to find her by tongue with her scent spread all over the ship like this."

Ahhve walked over, their eyes on the vent, "I can fit in there." they said after a pause.

"Aye, just barely, I wouldn't recommend it." Shale went for the door and almost walked into it when it didn't open. He started to fiddle with the control pad and after a moment he hissed loudly.

"_The controls are locked!" _Shale growled after a moment, his hands were balled into fists.

"Then there is no choice." Ahhve said quietly. "We must take the vents." their voice had a hardness to it that held the echo of Baal's mature tone. Shale only hesitated for a moment before taking off the equipment attached to his back. They didn't have time for Shale to cut through the door or hack the lock itself, the vents were the only other way either could think of.

Ahhve boosted Shale up to the metal grate, which took nothing for the yautja to pull off. Once he had squeezed his way in Shale dangled his foot down for Ahhve to take so Shale could pull them up to the vent's opening, for the fit was so tight he could not even turn around to offer his hand.

Dag's scent only grew stronger the farther in they crept. Shale's tongue didn't stop moving, his hearts thudded anxiously as they got closer and closer to the center of the ship.

Shale flinched and banged his head on the metal ceiling when he felt Ahhve's hand on his calf. Growling, he looked over his shoulder and his irritation vanished when he saw Ahhve's fingers speak.

I can smell her now.

Shale only nodded, they had to be very close then. As Shale moved forward Ahhve could feel themself bristling, blood humming with energy as they readied themself for the fight that was to come.

Suddenly Shale caught the knife's edge of a blood-chilling bitter scent. Swift and silent he moved through the vent's toward it, his body humming at the foul sour smell of a hard-meat. Behind him he heard Ahhve gasp as they became aware of it, Shale's mandibles flexed open and a low hiss issued from his throat.

_She cannot end that way… she cannot… _

What felt like an unbearable length of time passed before they sighted the mangled body of a hard-meat that lay in a pond of glowing blood. Here Dag's scent was fresh and strong. Wasting no time Shale kicked open the vent's grating and allowed for Ahhve to get out before he squeezed through the cramped opening himself.

"Do you think they are chasing her?" Ahhve asked anxiously, their eyes were dilated and their nostrils flared, drinking in the smell of Dag's sweat and fear.

"I don't think so." Shale growled. He looked down at the fluorescent blood and his eyes followed the trail of glowing footprints that lead down the hallway. Ahhve's eyes met his gaze and they shared a glance, a heartbeat full of worry.

Not far away a shriek rang out, a scream of rage. A yautjan voice.

Shale and Ahhve broke out into a run.

…

The equipment Dawn-Whispers struck had shattered like glass. Dag winced, a swift stab of pity shot through chest at the sound of his pain. She couldn't help it, she knew what loss was like. Swamp-water beside her hissed softly, his eyes met hers and he regarded the expression on her face before she looked away.

From across the room Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes stiffened. His bulk of flesh twitched and he jerked his head towards the door, his body tense and alert. Everyone fell to a hush as his tongue flicked out to taste the air. Without moving his gaze he clicked out a command and made a gesture toward Dag.

She froze as the press of cool metal touched her throat. Dag's jaw clenched as Dawn-Whispers roughly hauled her to her feet, she'd only let her guard down for a moment, but a moment was all it took.

The low threatening growl that rumbled up from Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes froze Dag's blood, she glanced over at him, sweat dripped down her face. This was it. They were going to kill her.

But to Dag's confusion he wasn't looking at her, only the open doorway of the medical bay held his attention. His rattling hiss sent goosebumps over Dag's skin and she shrank from the door and pressed against Dawn-Whispers, her fingernails bit into the flesh of his arm and she ignored his irritated growl.

Was it another hard-meat? How many more could there be? How the hell would she survive this one?

But then she could hear the heavy footsteps echo down the hall. Dag's eyes widened and she felt her stomach spin somersaults in her throat.

_Shale-!_

She breathed in to scream but Dawn-Whispers hand immediately clamped down over her mouth. Infuriated, Dag tried to bite at him, her hands raked over his thick skin and she twisted in his arms. The sweat from her body made her as slippery as an eel and Dawn-Whispers gripped her hard to keep ahold of her. An explosion of high-pitched clicks and growls flooded Dag's ears, in her struggle Dawn-Whispers had pulled her head back and she was unable to see the door.

"_DAG!" _

Ahhve's desperate cry was drowned out by furious yautjan voices. Dag grunted and struggled against the heavy arms that clamped down on her. Dawn-Whispers hissed and pressed the knife into her skin hard enough to prick her flesh, the pain was nothing, but the drip of blood that ran down her neck made her freeze.

The iron tang stained the air as Shale stared down the yellow-eyed yautja before him. At his side Ahhve was stiff, muscles trembling, coiled like a rope twisted too tight.

"Been a while since this one saw an _arbitrator…" _The yautja with blood covered arms spoke at length, his clicking voice crackled with malice. "Let alone one with _your _reputation."

Shale narrowed his eyes at the scene before him. By the looks of it a hunting mother was dead, lying still on a medical table, her blood on the arms of the one who spoke to him. The equipment in the medical bay was old, almost as old as he was. These bad bloods had been separated from the homeworld and the path of the hunt for a very long time.

"If you wanna shoot the shit with me you've picked the wrong way to get my attention." Shale hissed, "I don't care to hear you listen to yourself talk. So, are we goin' to negotiate or stand around lookin' at each other like a buncha dumb fucks?"

The bloody yautja cocked a mandible, his bright eyes narrowed. "Speak to me with respect or the human will fall dead before you can draw a blade."

"_Coward." _Ahhve sneered in mandarin, "Hiding behind the threat of death to one so defenseless."

"She's far from defenseless." The dark muddy yautja that stood nearest to Ahhve clicked, he broke with Ahhve's gaze and regarded his leader calmly. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes growled in warning but the calm hunter continued. "They did save Dawn-Whispers, will you not grant some leniency?"

"_Save-?" _the youngest yautja snarled, "_It didn't save anything-!" _

"Shut up." Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes hissed.

Despite the situation Shale chuffed with low laughter, "My little one saved this one then? Aye?"

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes looked the middle-aged arbitrator over with a scowl stretched across his mandibles. The infamous Stalks-at-Dusk left much to be desired. Blind in one eye. Short. Scrawny. His armour was battered and crude. He wore no skulls to speak of his prowess in battle, and his grey locs were frayed and unkempt. As if to add insult to injury his hick accent was hardly understandable, his voice was thin, cracked and grating. The blue myilliean beside him was far more fearsome. And yet…

"_Yes…" _Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes sighed. "Let her down."

Dawn-Whispers blinked and after a pause Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes turned to him and snarled, "_Has your mind gone soft? Let her go!" _

Shocked, Dawn-Whispers dropped the blade and released his hold on Dag. The human stumbled, her dark eyes wide, but she hesitated only a moment before she sprinted toward her companions.

Ahhve rushed forward and met her in the middle, their breath sucked in as their long arms wrapping around her protectively.

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes watched the exchange, his tongue flicked out to taste the air and he looked over to Stalks-at-Dusk with interest. "You've taught her our ways."

Shale cocked his head as the bloody yautja addressed him, the switch from 'this one' to 'you' was a change from formal to informal. "I had to. And you are lettin' her go?" Shale watched as Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes spread his mandibles thoughtfully.

"She saved my offspring." He said finally.

"Sounds like my Dag." Shale clicked gruffly. Ahhve now carried Dag over on graceful legs, their gaze hard on the remaining yautja in the medical bay.

"Why was she taken in the first place?" Ahhve asked, their voice needle sharp. Dag was silent as she clung to them, her eyes sharp and watchful on the enemies surrounding them.

"Humans make clever hard meats." Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes clicked briskly, "but it was never our aim to attract such attention, so we give her back to you."

Ahhve's eyes narrowed and beside them Shall trilled softly. "You expect me to believe that you're just goin' to let us _walk out?" _

The equivalent of a smile spread across Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes mandibles, "I don't recall saying any such thing."

Shale grunted and his tongue flicked out in irritation.

Dag jerked her head in swamp-water's direction as he unsheathed a pair of long blades from their holsters on his back. "No fast movements _pretty one." _His gentle voice slid through Ahhve like spoiled honey, "Lest you prick and poison your precious _bitch_."

"_Ahhve…" _Dag's hands tightened their grip, her ears deaf to the words spoken around her. "What's going on?"

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes launched himself at Shale, the pit of Dag's stomach shot up into her throat as Ahhve ducked below the arch of swamp-water's blade. Shale had rolled to the center of the room, his wrist blades clicked into place just as Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes turned to face the lithe hunter that had slipped under him.

"_RUN!" _Shale roared.

Ahhve didn't hesitate. Dag yelped as they darted out around the corner and sprinted down the corridor.

"_SHALE!" _

Her scream bounced off of the metal walls and only added to the vicious snarls and electric clash of metal back in the medical bay. Swamp-water and Dawn-Whispers quickly followed after them, Dag could hear their shrill clicking above the thud of her heart and the noise of pounding footsteps.

_God… god… god… _

Ahhve didn't know the way back. They had only crawled through the air vents and their nose wasn't strong enough to get them back the way they came. Though much faster than the yautja chasing them, these were cramped quarters, if they were running out in the open Ahhve would have been long gone. Here they could only run for so far until both of them were cornered.

Snarling, Ahhve slid to a stop, gently deposited Dag on the ground and spun to face the yautja charging them. Dag got to her feet and rushed forward, ready to brawl, but Ahhve's long arm held her back.

Dawn-Whispers drew out his own wrist blades, mandibles splayed and hissing fiercely at the willowy blue alien.

"Careful brother, that is a myilliean-"

"_I know what it is!" _ Dawn-Whispers growled. His foul temper showed clear on his face. This day had gone from bad to worse to catastrophic. Some of his clanmates had been picked off by the hard meats that, _human, _had set free. And he was the one who had brought her aboard. It was his fault they had to leave, his fault the arbitrator found them, _his fault that they were dead! _

Rage sparked alight inside Dawn-Whisper's chest and he surged forward, wrist blades extended and ready to sink into hot, writhing flesh.

Swift as a crack of thunder Ahhve caught the youth's wrist and held him back with their terrible strength. Dawn-Whisper's eyes widened in disbelief, shock poured cold down his back that this fragile creature could stop his hand so easily.

That pause of surprise was deadly. Ahhve plucked a quill and plunged it into the center of Dawn-Whispers domed head, so thin it was that the yautja didn't feel any pain. He wrenched his wrist free of Ahhve and pulled back to strike him when his sense of balance was blown out.

The shaft of the quill had exploded within the soft brain matter of Dawn-Whispers skull. The clear fibrous material fractured and ignited when the venom within mixed with certain hormones, chemical compounds only found within living flesh and blood. The reaction was instantaneous, its heat scalded and liquified internal organs, and the diamond-hard quill shattered and ripped apart meat, veins, sinew and flesh.

Dawn-Whispers dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, dead as a stone. The silence that echoed after was chilled by winter's kiss.

"I guess you inherited the brains of the family?" Ahhve asked dryly.

Swamp-water tilted his head to the side as he regarded his still clanmate, his amber eyes flicked up to Ahhve and Dag, cold as frost.

"Your people would have made great and noble prey, had they not plucked themselves bare of such blessed weapons." he trilled softly. The long blades in his hands gleamed in the red light as the hunter stepped forward on silent feet. Slow and careful, his tongue tasted the air warily.

A wet sucking sound cut through the tense silence and Dag's eyes widened as she saw Ahhve's mandibles fully extend. They crouched down, muscles taut, before they rushed the dark yautja. Swamp-water swung his blades to parry Ahhve's fast hands, metal sung high as the flashing silver skimmed over the ships walls.

From far off Dag heard a heavy roar. It had to have come from the medical bay. She wavered where she stood, every instinct screamed that she had to move, had to do something. But what?

The fresh corpse in front of her was a clue.

Dag scrambled to it and roughly searched for Dawn-Whispers weapons. She pulled out a pair of blades and threw herself into the fray. Her attack was unexpected, and she landed a blow to swamp-waters leg, a thin line of green burst open and his hissing voice growled. Dag was too close to avoid getting kicked square in the shoulder, all of the air left her lungs as she felt something give. Dag landed painfully onto the floor, her sight blurred and her mind spun from pain and exhaustion.

Swamp-water neatly ducked away from Ahhve's clawing hands, each held a deadly quill that gleamed in the light. Trying to keep Ahhve out of range, swamp-water swung his blade to strike a blow, but the metal missed. It allowed Ahhve to get close enough to stick a quill into the yautja's arm.

Rising to her feet, Dag shuddered at the high scream that echoed in the corridor. She looked up to see swamp-waters arm dangling by his side, glittering fragments of quill stuck out of his muddy skin like transparent slivers of glass. Green blood was dripping freely, glittering on the dark red floor.

She watched as swamp-water struck Ahhve hard in the temple, her heart seized as her friend's head struck the ground with a heavy sound. Even as she rushed for them- her hands gripping the unfamiliar blades and her voice letting out a wail- thick monstrous claws were racking over Ahhve's cobalt blue neck, tearing in deep until black-red blood flowed.

The pounding of her heart reached her ears, consuming everything as she brought the blades down. The red drenched yautjan hand battered the daggers away, his amber eyes fell upon her and his hot paw of a hand shot out and grabbed ahold of Dag's soft neck.

_No… _

Her heartbeat was rolling thunder in her head, her hands reached fruitlessly for the muddy yautja's face, straining to claw his hateful eyes out. Ahhve lay motionless on the ground, their breath wheezed from their bloodied throat.

_No… _

The hand around her neck tightened as the last of Dag's breath escaped in a scream of rage. Her eyesight blotted black and red as swamp-water pushed her down to the ground, pressing with all of his weight, bending her back as if to snap her spine.

_Not now… not like this… _

Finally Dag's hands found purchase, she grabbed the locs that dangled around swamp-waters face and _pulled. _He growled in irritation and redoubled his grip, though the added pressure did nothing to stop her from causing as much pain as possible.

Agonizing minutes ticked by as the life was strangled out of her, blood vessels burst in her eyes, staining her pale sclera dark with blood. Her fingernails broke as she scratched at the face of the dark yautja, green blood dripped and rolled over thick leathery skin and mixed with her sweat. Dag didn't shy from glaring death in the eyes until her consciousness was finally stripped from her. Swamp-water scented the air, making sure it was safe to release his grasp.

He set her down with a low hiss.

He'd gotten lucky.

His shattered arm hung limply by his side, the throb of pain keeping pace with the thudding beats of his hearts. He'd gotten terribly lucky.

The dark green yautja stood and tasted the air again, he grunted at the sound of fighting from the medical bay. It seemed more had survived the outbreak of hard-meats than he'd thought.

His gaze turned to the body of his fallen sibling. Still warm. Though blood was now sluggishly weeping from his dull eyes.

His anger ripped loose from his throat in a hiss, amber eyes fell upon Ahhve's still form,

_You will pay for this… _


	14. Chapter 14

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes hissed as he narrowly ducked under Stalks-at-Dusks kick. Their blades met, again and again. Sparks flew and scattered in the dusky red light like shooting stars. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes was being backed into a corner, by some skinny bastard from some watery hole on the forsaken rock their ancestors sprang from.

Furious, he pushed back, his head pounding with the demand for blood and vengeance. Shale was deft to avoid the singing blades, parrying with ease. As his opponent seethed with rage Shale kept his own bloodlust on ice. It was essential to keep his head level, otherwise the fight would be up to chance.

Green blood sprayed the floor in a great arch as Shale dragged his curved blade across the torso of the other yatuja. Murderous hissing filled the room and the distant echos of other voices and pounding feet echoed from the hallway.

_Dag... _

Shale twisted out of the way of a parrying blow, he needed to finish this.

Another roar shook the medical bay as he ducked and rolled under flashing blades, dragging his own across the back of the younger yautja's thigh.

Snarling, Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes threw back his arm and slammed his elbow into Shale's face. The old veterin didn't budge, even as pain flashed and blinded his eyes. On instinct his hand shot out and gripped the other yautja's gills and yanked him in close to meet Shale's metal fist.

Shale punched him again, and again, green blood went flying. Shale felt the scarred and gnarled hands of Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes grab at his gills and face, the claws dragging and nicking his leathery skin.

_Blasphemers, hateful, wasteful, war-like, vermin! _

The image of Dag being held hostage by the youth that he'd seen seek her out at the bar filled Shales mind. Another flickered past. The way she looked at him when she demanded vengeance. The rage and bloodlust in her eyes an echo of his own.

Shale snarled, his metal fist hammering an explosion of anger home in the middle of Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes domed head. He was numb to the claws that raked over his skin and deaf to the shouts and clicks coming from all around.

_You could have been my brother! You could have been my brother! _

That thought shrieked in Shale's head over and over again until something heavy hit his metal fit and tore half of his prosthetic off. Hissing, half feral, Shale let the weight he was holding drop and he leapt over it to throw himself at the yautja that had just shot at him.

He tore, he ripped, he beat at grey-green flesh with a single bloodied hand. Unable to see or hear anything besides the hate that had blinded his senses.

_You could have been my brother...You could have been my brother… _

He chose war instead. So many of Shale's friends and family abandoned the hunt for war. So set in their ways, unwilling to see the space faring races as equals, unable to let the past go and move on.

_What glory is there in this? Where is the honor? Your precious honor? _

Shale was covered in hot glowing blood, he felt sick. The jagged end of his metal arm throbbed in false pain. A blow struck him in the back, agony ripped it's way through his body and Shale stumbled. From behind him a roar sounded and Shale looked over his shoulder only to see a shadow rushing towards him before he fell into darkness and everything abruptly ceased.

….

Smell was the first sense to surface. Shale felt a mandible twitch as his consciousness returned to him, along with his memories.

_I should be skinned alive… _

He'd let his anger get the better of him, he'd been reckless, he'd lost.

And he was still alive. From the smell of things Ahhve and the other yautja were here with him. Wherever here was. He was upright, though restrained to something cold and metal. He could smell dry, recycled air, the oily scents of the sphere, and blood. Thin clipping sounds could be heard and pricked over his domed scalp, along with trilling yautjan laughter.

"There, cut it there."

Another clip. Shale heard Ahhve shift.

"What's this fine stuff?"

"Hair _dumbass, _it's different than fur." another clip. This time Ahhve hissed.

Shale heard a new voice purr, it was the muddy dark hunter from before. "_Where's that sharp tongue of yours? pretty one…" _

Feeling sick, Shale opened his good eye to see the tiled metal floor beneath his feet. Without moving his head he looked up and for a moment he didn't understand what he was seeing.

Ahhve was bound and being held down by no less than four yautja, and there was a shimmering pile of sticks beside them. Shale watched the dark yautja take the shaft of one of Ahhve's quills and, using a serrated tool, clipped the quill right where it grew from Ahhve's skull.

Shale's head shot upright then, he was too shocked to growl. Myilliean quills fell out naturally and when plucked would grow back as before. But cut off with a tool that damaged the matrix the quills grew from and they'd never grow back right, if at all.

The pile of shimmering sticks was spotted with dark red blood.

So many quills had been cut off that the thin hair on Ahhve's head was no longer pulled back, but swept over their face. Shale could only see their mouth, and it was twisted in a grimace of pain.

The dark Yautja fisted Ahhves hair and yanked their head back to access the quills that grew from the crown of their head. Shale could see red blood ooze from their scalp, staining the spider-silk fine hair. With each clip of a quill the cold rage burned inside of Shale's gut, pouring down his veins like rivers of ice.

The dark yautja purred and fingered a bleeding hole on Ahhve's scalp with his claw, beneath him Ahhve flinched.

"I hear your people do this on purpose, so they don't grow back…" he dug the claw deeper into the wound, blood seeped up and spread hot over leathery smooth skin.

Ahhve's mandibles were shut tight, not a sound or a cry betrayed them as the yautja that sat on their back went from one matrix to another, further mutilating them with their claws. Low chuffs and trills came from the others,

"You regret killing our kin now?" one of them asked, yanking on Ahhve's hair as they did so.

At that Ahhve's mandibles twitched, "_No." _

Another quill was cut and Ahhve fell silent.

"It will take more than this to break her," the dark one said, "but don't worry, I have a lot more planned for you…" his black claws dragged over Ahhve's scalp and curled around their fine hair before giving it another tug.

A strange wheezing laugh eased out of Ahhve. "If I were you I would keep that glow-rod of yours away from my mouth, _I bite_."

"I don't _fuck _meat," his merciless claws dug deeper into blue flesh.

Ahhve gasped, and it was a moment before they cleared their throat to speak. "I did not think you would know the difference…"

Ahhve's head was slammed down onto the hard floor. Once. Twice. Three times. But even as the blood welled and bubbled from their mouth their thick clotted laughter followed.

Shale growled then, catching the attention of all the young yautja.

"Ya'll are goin' to have to be a bit more creative than this if ya wanna rattle that one."

Behind bloodstained hair Shale caught a glimpse of Ahhve's dark eyes, they were in pain, but alert.

"Oh, you think this is all we will do to you and yours?" a pale yautja spat, barely old enough to have their gills braided.

"Nay, I ain't that stupid."

Another hissed at him, "Age has softened your mind," they spat, "you'll be begging for death before we tire of you!"

Beg? Maybe for the others, but never his.

Shale chuffed softly, "There are less scars on my hide than the number of dead fucks who'd spoke words like that to me, _brat." _Shales words came out cold and fast, a feeling of sickness curled in his stomach as he looked down upon four new faces. All barely more than children. All he would have to kill.

_More waste. I am so tired of waste. _

He didn't have much more time for melancholy, for at just that moment the door to their prison opened and an unpleasant sight greeted him. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes stroad in, coated with blue gel and limping, and spared only a glance at the group on the floor before walking over to where Shale was bound.

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes regarded Shale for a moment, his mandibles clicked together thoughtfully and Shale met his pale yellow gaze with indifference. Growling, Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes punched Shale in the face.

_"You and that human of yours has cost me dearly." _The anger in his voice was horrible enough that the five young yautja flinched away. Ahhve didn't notice the weight move off of them, so stolen by the clawing rage that filled the air.

"I lost three children, and a hunting mother, but you have no care- you and your world abandoned us! Threw us out! We are only trying to live _our _way! With _our _honor! With whatever is left of it!" Hissing and growling Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes hit Shale again. "Do you think we wish to be here!? Mingle and pay heed to the filth that surrounds us? We are forced to live like this! Not hunt worthy prey as is our right! Disgusting! Shameful! How dare you cast your judgment upon us, who gave you the right!?"

Again and again he landed blows upon Shales scarred flesh, Ahhve winched at the dull crack of bone that could be heard above the steady roar of fury.

But even so Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes had to breathe, and when he did Shale spit a glob of glowing blood onto the floor and spoke.

"Ginken… Jarr-ei… Saisoa… fine, hunt 'em. Their kin will only come after your hide and give you whats due. Not your whole damned _race._ If humans ever learn what _we _used to do to _them_ you can kiss _your sorry ass goodbye_. They will vaporize yautja prime and every colony they find from light years away. You do not find worthy prey in a species that will eat itself alive _killing you!_"

_"We all know about the war-!" _

_"I AINT TALKIN ABOUT THE COMPANY! I MEAN EARTH! I WATCHED THOSE FUCKING MONSTERS BURN THEIR PLANET ALIVE OVER __**NOTHIN'!**__!" _

The silence was palpable.

_"Ah fuck I am too old for this shit-!" _Shale's voice cracked, his roar had rattled the equipment in the room, the charms in his gills chimed quietly as he sighed.

"We gave them up as prey to preserve the hunt. Is that really so terrible? Do you really think you've found honor here?"

Shale shot a look down at the bloody pile of quills on the floor and met the eyes of the youths before him. "Does this look honorable to you?"

There was a pause, then,

"_The fuck?" _

_"Who does he think he is?" _

_"Lick my ass!" _

Shale closed his eyes. Similar words had been uttered by his long dead brother.

Underneath it all he could hear Ahhve's soft laughter. Their dark eyes glittered as they looked up at Shale, blood stained their sharp teeth.

"You have said nothing we haven't heard before…" Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes hissed, "what might have been, what may be, doesn't matter now. Because of you we have to leave this rock and find somewhere else to live, but we have one last schedule to keep."

Shale didn't like the gleam that entered the yautja's eyes. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes trilled softly and clicked in a self-satisfied way.

"I thought you both might find comfort in seeing your friends again. More so in the knowing that their fate will be much swifter than either of yours."

The other yautja in the room all tittered with dark laughter. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes activated a display screen and Shale felt his stomach wring itself into a knot.

"I am especially curious how that human will get on."

From the ground came Ahhve's hoarse wheezing and a pained sound as they twisted to see the screen.

"No more laughing for you now!" One of the younger yautja cruelly wretched at the severed quill matrix on Ahhve's head. But not a cry came from them. Only their soft, panicked, wheezing breath could be heard in the room.

Shale stared at the screen, his blood curdling with horror at what he saw. If it had been himself out there in the ring his hearts would have sung with joy at the opportunity of such a hunt. But it was not so. And Shale felt that he would watch his friends be ripped apart, felt it with as much clarity as the undeniable pull of gravity.

For a moment in his mind's eye he saw again the scrawny adolescent Dag, standing brittle but not broken in the ruins of her farm. The dusty light of the sun and the greyness of her expression, all of it had shattered as her eyes looked up at him.

There he had plucked her from the grey and ocher dust, and here he would watch her fall. Bitterly broken. For the amusement of his uncaring, indifferent species.

"Shale…" Ahhve rasped, they had finally found their voice, "what..._the fuck_... is that?"

Shale, unable to watch, shut his eyes and did not answer.

…..

A warm wet tongue kissed Dag's sweat-salted skin and her eyes fluttered open to be greeted by a familiar face.

"_Baal…" _the joy in her voice cracked as she moved to wrap her arms around the alien's thick neck. The familiar thrum of electricity passed over Dag, along with Baal's thick purring voice. For several moments all Dag could do was hold her, her heart swelling inside the confines of her rib-cage, threatening to burst. A single tear of relief slipped down Dags brown cheek before she could let go.

They sat in the middle of what could only be described by Dag as a gladiator ring. The ground was hard and dusty and spattered with dried blood of many different hues. The smell of old death was rancid. All around them was a dark metal wall, and from behind came the clamouring of at least a hundred different voices. Excited, agitated, hooting and heckling.

_This must be one of the fighting rings the constable was looking for… _

"Fucking superb…" Dag sighed, her body felt weak and dehydrated, unsurprisingly she was still naked. "Baal, I'm so sorry."

Baal gave Dag another loving lick on her cheek, she pressed her great furry head to Dag's and the young human felt her reassurance.

"I think my shoulder was dislocated." Dag muttered. She winced as she stretched it, someone had popped it back in, and not gently.

Baal moved to inspect the affected limb as Dag cast a wary eye over their grim surroundings.

"Did you learn anything useful?" She asked,

Baal snorted and shook her head no in the human manner. Dag looked up at the ceiling and identified a recorder floating right under the glaring lights. Despite Ahhve's reassurance that the sphere had changed for the better, there seemed to still be a high demand for a spectacle of violence and death.

_Good way to make money… having folks fight those dick-head lookin' things. _

Dag swallowed a shiver of fear. It looked like it was going to be their turn. She didn't have any weapons, she'd be nothing but a burden to Baal.

_Is this how I'm gonna die? _

She fingered the bruises on her neck and winced, she was surprised she wasn't dead already. Ahhve probably was.

Blinking hard, Dag stood up and tried to get her bearings. If she was going to end she was going to go out like her mother, facing forward and giving whatever it was screaming bleeding hell.

Beside her Baal flinched, her ears twitched towards the opposite wall and her golden eyes narrowed in warning. Dag lay a hand on her black shoulder and buried her fingers in the soft fur.

_This is my fault, all my fault, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. _

A door on the wall slid open and from behind the metal barriers came a roar of voices, loud as thunder they echoed all around them.

Ahhve… Shale… Fish… Hutch…

Dag kept her eyes ahead, her teeth grit tight and her hand motionless on Baal's strong shoulder. From above Dag heard a click and saw the recorder start to make it's way over to them, probably to broadcast a better image of their faces. Dag shot it a snarl before returning her attention to the door that gaped obnoxiously wide.

The ground shook with a thud and Dag felt her heart skip a beat. Another thud, and another sounded and Dag furrowed her brow in confusion, the aliens the yautja were breeding weren't _that _big. What the hell was being set upon her and Baal?

Beside her Baal hissed and slunk into a crouch, her long tail flicked back and forth as she crept forward on six strong legs. Dag tensed, ready to run and circle to confuse whatever was heading toward them.

But when it entered the room she was struck dumb and still.

It _was _one of the things the yautja were breeding. It had to be. It's eye-less face was too similar, though it's head did not curve into a phallic dome, but a flared crest. It was massive, ten, maybe twelve meters tall. Dag wasn't sure. Primal fear unlike any she had even known overwhelmed her senses.

Baal's bone-rattling roar shook her to her senses. Dag blinked and saw a blur of black bolt towards the gleaming armored monster. She almost missed it Baal was so fast. Her blood unfroze and Dag darted to the side, her eyes never leaving Baal's sleek form.

The crested alien hissed at Baal, it's long skeletal arms shot out to grab at her. But Baal was faster. She slipped through and crouched down on the powerful muscles in her back legs, like the snap of a rubber band she launched herself at the alien.

There was an explosion of hisses as Baal dug her thick claws into black armored hide, it's wicked lance of a tail swun back and forth, gouging slashes into the metal walls in it's frustration.

The noise was tremendous, Dag could almost feel the bones in her ears vibrate.

Nothing. She could do nothing.

Baal sank her teeth into the alien's thick neck and steaming yellow blood spurted out. Dag screamed as the smell of burning fur and meat filled the air, an unfamiliar keening shriek tore through her and she realized it was Baal. She was screaming.

The alien grabbed at Baal and threw her to the floor, boiling yellow blood spilled onto concrete and it's foul mouth grimaced as it turned to her. The blank, eyeless face aimed straight at Dag and she felt her heart seize with terror. It's thin lips pulled back to reveal it's glassy teeth, it hissed at her contemptuously before turning to Baal.

The side of her face that had gotten sprayed with blood was steaming, flesh and fur boiling off and slipping to hang off of bone. Baal's blood was diluting the acid, a small mercy. She had gotten up from where she had been thrown and bared her fangs at the alien again.

_No. No. NO! _

"_OVER HERE!" _Dag screamed like she had never screamed before, "_OVER HERE YOU UGLY BASTARD!" _

It worked. The alien faced her and hissed, it's horrible six-fingered hands open and grasping as it moved toward her. Evidently it didn't think Baal was a threat.

"_GET OVER HERE! COME ON!" _Dag's throat burned, she scooped up a chunk of something- stone or concrete- and chucked it at the alien, hitting it dead-on where an eyeball should have been. It flinched and hissed at her, lurching forward to grab and tear her apart. Shale's training kicked in and Dag ducked and rolled out of the way before it reached her. Instead it slammed into the wall, hot yellow blood splattered over the barrier and immediately began to boil.

"_COME ON! COME ON!" _Dag ran, egging it to follow, bending to scoop up another rock to pelt it with. It's tail lashed in aggravation, scraping over metal and stone. The sound, like squealing metal, was followed by the low, feral hissing coming from it's dripping maw.

Baal's roar echoed in the chamber and the alien was jerked away, it's squealing screams cutting through all rational thought and sense. Dag blinked in pain and saw that Baal had attacked its tail, very nearly severing it.

But at a price. Baal's front paw was dissolving, melting right before her eyes. Her agonized wail rang clear as she leapt onto the alien's back. Furious and desperately clawing at the black armor.

Dag's face felt numb from the stench of the yellow blood, her eyesight blurred and hot tears ran down over her skin. She tore her eyes away from the scene and scoured the ground around her with her eyes. Looking, hoping, for anything.

Just as she spied a particularly large chunk of concrete the yowling and furious hissing ceased. She snatched the stone and stood to see the alien fling Baal's massive body across the chamber. She hit the metal barrier and fell to crumple onto the cold ground. The crack and crunch of bone made Dag feel as if her stomach had ceased to be.

Baal was still. Dag was sure she wasn't breathing.

Silent. Face slicked and wet. Dag turned her eyes to the hissing demon that now stalked her. There was a distinctly smug way it was twitching it's injured tail, Dag thought she saw a smile curl at its grotesque lips.

Dag clutched at her measly shitty rock and stood her ground.

_I'm coming home… _

Dag saw her farm. Her parents and brothers. Ahhve and Baal standing with them. Their faces open and welcoming. Beckoning to her.

_I'm coming home… _

She kept still as the great beast crept forward, looming over her and grabbing her soft fragile torso with its obscenely human hands. Dag shook in its grasp. Her hand that held the rock cut into its edges and bled.

Hissing in delight it opened its giant mouth and from within a second horror lurched straight at her face. Dag shot the hand that held the rock straight down the second mouth's throat. The slimy orifice accepted the stone, until Dag yanked it sideways before she pulled out her arm. By all rights she shouldn't have succeeded. But the alien had flinched away instead of biting down and sealed it's fate. Around the stone it made a horrible wheezing sound.

"_Choke on it!" _Dag screamed, she pulled her fist back and punched her concrete hardened fist right through it's transparent teeth. She felt the hands that held her loosen and she fell to the ground with a jolt. Pain exploded straight through her, it shot up her leg and into her hip and spine from the fall. Stars sparkled in her eyes and she blinked them away, just in time to roll from the clawing hands of the alien. She tried to stand, to crawl. Her ankle had to be broken from the fall, the pain, the grinding sensation, there was nothing like it.

Acid blood or no, most things that lived had to breathe. The alien gagged and wheezed, it's second mouth extended and bit at the air, Dag could see the bulge of the stone caught in the second mouth's throat.

"_Choke on it you bitch…" _Dag spat. She looked over at Baal's still body and the pain that shredded her heart made her broken ankle feel like nothing. Her vision blurred completely with tears and she heard herself sobbing as she stood up, her hands gripped the wall for support as she hobbled her way over to the still body of her friend.

The alien was having none of it.

Dag screamed when a burning pain lashed through her back, she fell to the filthy ground, her body already slick with her own hot blood. She gritted her teeth and turned to face her death, garnet dark eyes burning molten red.

The wheezing alien loomed over her, the blade of it's mutilated tail gleaming with her blood. If it weren't for Baal it probably would have been able to pierce her straight through. Despite everything Dag felt a wave of peace wash over her. This was it. This was her death. And she likely would be the fate if it as well.

Dag cracked a bitter smile and spit in the aliens face, she didn't see if her last spiteful act had landed. She'd already closed her eyes.

She did her mama proud.

She was coming home.

A furious roar forced her eyes open. Dag gasped as the monstrous hissing face was pulled back, she cried out in pain as she forced her battered body to sit up. She couldn't believe her eyes. Baal was alive, and pulling the alien back by it's bleeding tail.

The alien was making strangled noises at her and strugged weakly against the powerful Saisoa in a brutal game of tug of war. One more yank and it's black armored tail snapped off with a horrible pop, yellow blood gushed onto the ground and the alien moaned low in its throat. Unable to hiss or shriek, or even breathe. It stumbled, then fell to the ground, the pained wheezing grew shallower, and shallower.

Baal tossed the limp end of it's tail aside and slowly limped over to Dag. Dag choked on a sob and struggled to get to her knees, her arms were outstretched and shaking, needing more than air itself to hold Baal and never let go. One half of her beautiful black lioness face was mutilated beyond recognition, the eyes on that side of her face were gone, melted away by the boiling blood. As was one of her front paws, and the way she walked, Dag knew many bones had been broken.

Dag tried to say her name, but nothing came out but a whimper. Baal reached her head out and pushed it against Dag's hands. Dag's arms fell around Baal's thick neck and she held her close, sobbing into her soft black fur.

Across from them the black armoured alien lost consciousness. The last thing it sensed before it fell into the abyss was the warm embrace of two beings it could not comprehend.

It was only then Dag realized she heard nothing beyond the metal barriers. Dizzy, she went to look around, wondering what was happening, why they couldn't hear the spectators. Baal gingerly lay down beside her, panting, the bare bones of her face and ruined paw still dully smoking from acidic blood. Dag set her hand down and it felt damp, she lifted it up, confused, only to see that it was drenched in blood.

_Fuck me… _

She glanced behind her and a thin giggle slipped from her lips.

_Fuckin… too angry to die… can't go home yet… I'm… fuckin… _

And then it was dark and Dag knew no more.


	15. Chapter 15

[Trigger Warning: Gore and Torture]

Ahhve had learned long ago that screaming never did much good. The sounds of pain and terror did nothing but give pleasure and satisfaction to their tormentors. Praying didn't do much either. When Ahhve was first enslaved by the white hunter they had prayed and prayed for their god to save them. Begged and pleaded until their voice was gone and they fell unconscious from exhaustion. Help eventually came. But mercy, it seemed, always arrived a bit too late. And always at a price.

The swamp colored yautja, who Ahhve had learned was called Dawns-Teeth, still sat on top of their back. Dawns-Teeth was laughing with the others as they watched Baal howl and scream in agony as fresh acid blood drenched the side of her face.

Ahhve couldn't have looked away, even if they wanted to. Dawns-Teeth had his claws firmly dug into the pitted quill matrix on their head and had their neck twisted to face the projected screen. The floor their cheek pressed against was slick with blood and now mingled with thick tears.

They had come to terms with Baals growing frailty. Bone cell degeneration was just what happened to Saisoa, just as humans cells slowed down, and just as they themselves grew harder with each shedding of their boney exoskeleton. Age was the natural pattern of life. That was how Baal was supposed to die. Lying comfortable and warm in a bed, in their arms, her fur bleached grey and white. They were supposed to say goodbye. Not watch her die like this.

_A small mercy. Anything. Please. _

Something started beeping.

Something was beeping urgently.

Out of the corner of their eye Ahhve saw Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes move toward a panel. The young yautja paid no attention, laughing and jeering as they were at the screen. Only Dawns-Teeth kept himself to an amused rumble, occasionally giving Ahhve's scalp a painful yank.

The clatter and click of yautjan claws tapping metal keys slowly filled Ahhve's sense of hearing as they strained to listen. Their breathing evened out and their pain went ignored as they focused their entire being on that sound.

_A small mercy… just one small mercy… _

A sharp ice pick of pain pierced through their thoughts and Ahhve let out a surprised yelp. Their stomach sunk as they saw another bloody quill flicked over onto the pile.

"Pay attention, _pretty one…" _Dawns-Teeths hissed.

Ahhve's irritation went from a simmer to a rolling boil in an instant. "Difficult to watch and ignore _your stink _at the same time-"

Ahhve felt a blow, and a dull ache, but it had struck the middle of their lower spine, one of the hardest parts of their exoskeleton. Ahhve heard bones snap and a wave of grim satisfaction washed over them. The young yautja who had made the mistake screeched in surprise, but the sound was silenced by Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes irritated hiss.

Dawn-Teeth smacked his sibling on the head, "_fool! _I told you not to strike her!"

_Her. _

Ahhve felt another flash of anger ripple down their spine. Most of the time it didn't matter, the sphere was a big place with thousands of different species and cultures, it wasn't a big deal when it happened. But Dawns-Teeth was misgendering them on purpose, it was an immature and petty way to poke at Ahhve, and it had gotten old.

From behind them Ahhve could hear Shale breath, chilling in it's calm, and that scared them more than the pain. Underneath it all the metallic clatter of keys suddenly paused.

"Get up." Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes growled curtly.

The weight of Dawns-Teeth on their chest vanished and Ahhve gasped when they could fully inhale again. The digging claws left their scalp and they twisted their head to see behind them, the dark yautja was standing still with his full attention on his father.

"The arena is being raided." Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes clicked, his yellow eyes were narrowed in a smug expression, "throw this trash in cold storage and ready the ship to swim." The yautjan euphemism for space travel purred off of his jagged tongue.

Before they had time to blink Ahhve was grabbed and pulled off of the floor, held fast by the two youngest in the room. Ahhve's eyes took in Shale, suspended by hooks on the opposite wall. They glanced at the projector screen, and a gasp took hold and squeezed their heart at the sight of Dag being plucked from the ground by the massive queen. But before they could see her fate they were dragged out of the room.

Ahhve struggled to get back in, they had to see, they had to know Dag's fate. But a clammy yautjan hand shot out and sank curved black claws into the ruined skin of their scalp. Ahhve screamed then, more from frustration rather than pain, though the latter was intense and blinding.

"_You're coming with us…" _one of the youths hissed. The pair took hold of Ahhve's restraints and began to pull them down the corridor.

"Are we to take this one too?" Ahhve heard Dawns-Teeth ask.

"No. I want him to watch. Get the ship ready."

And with that Ahhve was pulled around a corner and out of ear-shot. Down, down, down, deep in the bowels of the ship. The low vibration of the engines soon became a loud hum the further they went. Their heart raw and aching in anticipation of what may come. Weakened from blood loss and the shock of losing so many quills, all Ahhve could do was drag their heels and try to hold onto consciousness.

…

If Shale had been younger, rasher, less experienced, he might have tried to rip himself off of the hooks that held him fast. But he'd been restrained in a similar way before, and he knew that doing so would risk death. One wrong move and the jagged metal that skewered his thighs could knick an artery, and that would be a sad way to die.

Still. It was tempting. If only to reach out and be able to grab Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes by his neck.

"Too cowardly to bare witness are we?"

Shale blinked at Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes calmly, whatever anguish he felt was being crushed down in a cold dark place to be dealt with later.

"I wouldn't purposefully torment those most precious to you for sport." Shale spoke in a voice so cold time itself seemed to slow. "Even now I would not. What will my watchin' accomplish? Will it add to your honor? Seein' the grief in my eyes?"

The cool silence boiled over and Shale watched Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes mandible twitch. He made a snort of dismissal and turned to look at the screen, when Shale saw his yellow eyes grow wide with shock. Without thinking Shale followed his line of sight to watch what was so astonishing.

The queen was doubled over, in some sort of distress. Shale saw Dag limping away towards a still black smudge near the top of the screen. The queen turned, her mouth snarling and her tail lashed across Dag's back and he closed his eyes, grateful that Ahhve was not here to see.

"Why do you turn from this? It is a glorious death, far better than they deserve!" Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes hissed angrily.

"This ain't their way." Shale clicked quietly, "they wouldn't want me to see them die like this."

"_They are weak, and so are you." _Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes venomous hissing lashed out.

Shale opened his eyes to give the younger yautja a look, his mismatched gaze needle sharp, "How can you place such judgements on them? Who among us bestowed upon you such a power?"

That seemed to hit a nerve, for Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes flinched hearing his own sentiments repeated back to him.

"The way of the hunt ain't to cast judgements." Shale continued, "Nature don't act like that. Lookin' down on prey ain't natural, makes you no better than a murderer. You've indulged your vanity. Denyin' your own place in the universe, putin' yourself above those whom you _will _join in death one day-"

"_Shut up." _Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes growled. "No one here cares to hear of such _weakness." _

Shale turned away then, his disinterested expression only adding to the rage burning in Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes gut. The bad blood watched in confusion as the queen he'd smuggled from a crumbling ruin of a ship died. While Stalks-at-Dusk had been distracting him with his pitiful jabber he had not seen whatever it was that was done to kill her so quickly. He hadn't intended for the human to survive. Even now as she lay on the dirt floor, a pool of blood staining the ground beneath her, he saw that she breathed. How unfair it was that she still lived while his pup did not.

Still. He had the myilliean, and the infamous Stalks-at-Dusk. As much as Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes would love to kill him he knew there were other seperatist clans that would pay _anything_ for such a notorious arbitrator.

There of course would be the matter of proving it was him, doubtless many would question if the skinny one-armed bastard was anything more than a filthy nomad.

If that were the case than he would gladly take his skull instead.

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes shut off the screen projector and cut the link the recording equipment had to his ship. The distraction had worked. Once the law in the sphere found out it had been a ruse he and his clan would be long gone in the void of space.

A wet noise sounded behind him and Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes turned to see Stalks-at-Dusk scraping his claws along the metal walls. His body was shivering, and a fresh gout of blood dripped onto the tiled floor. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes tasted the air with his forked tongue and growled in a satisfied way at the piercing hatred that glared at him.

"There's no need to hurry. I promise you will die last." He clicked smugly.

Shale couldn't smother the hiss that crawled out of him against his will. He'd said something similar to someone else a long time ago. Ages it seemed, when he was young and thrived on blood and adrenaline and the scent of fear. When gleaming human skulls lined the walls of his trophy room like a string of ghastly pearls.

_This is Dag! Shale! All of these people are Dag! _

This was his punishment. For his arrogance, his pride. All those years thinking himself above his prey. Leering down on them and gloating as their gaze became unfocused and unknowing. Prey taken dishonorably, without respect, demanded penance.

Shale thought it was kinder than he deserved.

Even as Shale glared malice at the bad blood, Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes kept his back to him. An insult. Shale could hear his mocking trill as he laughed.

_You could have been my brother…_

Physical pain did not compare to the throbbing sick feeling that filled him up to the brim. With only the strength of his arm Shale pulled himself up on the hooks. Blood trickled down his chest, back, and thighs, as he pulled and pulled. His twin hearts cried out, the emotion that was welling up inside of him forced his instincts of self preservation out of the way.

_I could have been you… _

Mocking. Irreverent. Blind. Unable to understand that hunter and prey were one and the same in the loving embrace of death.

Shale lifted himself high enough to unhook the metal that was sunk into the meat of his legs. If he wasn't careful he'd bleed himself dry. With one final push he yanked himself free of the wall and landed on the blood soaked floor.

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes turned then, his amusement melted into a growl. From his gauntlet twin blades sang into existence, silver and flashing like a predators eyes in the night. Pain, hot and throbbing, made Shale's legs feel stiff and awkward. He shook himself and braced his stance, his single hand extended it's claws, ready to rip and tear.

But the bad blood didn't immediately charge him, his mandibles stretched out in an irritated scowl, "You are a tough old bastard… I will give you that."

Shale said nothing, a memory of Baal flickered to life in his mind's eye.

She'd been slashed and bleeding, beaten to an inch of her life for the crime of hiding him from the law of the sphere. Cycles ago when he had two children to care for and nowhere else to go.

'_My love makes me strong.' _

The Saisoa's words had baffled him. No language on his world had a word for love, so she'd used her native tongue instead. In time he understood. It was her love that kept her alive in prison. It was her love that made it her let him into her home in the first place.

It was love that gave Shale the strength to drag his flesh through the jagged hooks, it was love that numbed the pain and it was love that kept his mind clear. Not love for himself, but for the aliens that he'd come to think of when he thought of home.

Fast. Faster than the crack of thunder. Shale rushed forward and crowded Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes, too close for the bad bloods blades to be of any use. Savage snarls exploded in the room as the two yautja exchanged blows, both skillful fighters, and experienced. But the one-armed yautja had an advantage, a savage desperation that burned with the heat of a star in his blind and amber eyes.

With a quickness born of luck and deeply ingrained muscle memory, Shale deftly pulled a thin slip of a dagger from the hidden band on the inside of his loincloth. The bright metal disappeared into the green flesh of his opponent, sinking in up to Shale's thin fingers.

Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes gasped in shock, he jerked away, planning to pull back his blades to attack, but Stalks-at-Dusk moved with him. The dagger was pulled up, slicing apart muscle hardened meat until it hit bone. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes didn't really pain, it only occurred to him he was seriously injured when hot liquid began to pour onto his feet.

Shale rammed the blade up into Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes chest cavity, the wet squelch was followed by a gasp of shock. Shale shoved the other yautja away with his shoulder and the room was filled by the wet sound of organs hitting the floor.

Growling, Shale fisted his blade and watched, with no small amount of satisfaction, as Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes stared down at his exposed bowls in confusion. He stumbled back, looking at Shale in disbelief, only to see the scrawny one-armed arbitrator display a wicked little blade and wave it at him.

_"You-!" _Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes coughed, he could barely speak, only now realizing that blood was flooding his lungs. He fell to his knees as his twin hearts began to falter, the blade had punctured one of them and his blood was leaving him in a torrent. The dying yautja cursed at Shale, growled and hissed until his breath ran out and the life faded from him. Shale considered the disgraced bad blood before him, the one who was both a reflection of his past, and a reminder of his shame.

It was only when Shale was sure he was dead that he went to steal his medical pack.

It felt wrong to take from the dead like this. But Shale was desperate. He needed to stop this clan from leaving. He needed to salvage what was left of his family.

_Ahhve. _

The thought of them kept Shale moving. He lit the combuster and threw whatever loose junk he could find around the room to melt. The blue gel burned and he hissed as it thickened and cooled over his wounds. Shales missing arm twitched and throbbed in pain. He readied the needle and plunged it down into his thigh, the boost of energy focused his mind before the agony burst.

What would have made most yautja howl only came out of Shale as a gravelly hiss. He'd done it so many times, the throb of the stimulant was like the embrace of an old friend.

Shale looked over Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes for any weapons he might plunder, deciding with a twinge of disgust to take the bladed disks strapped to his thighs. For a moment Shale considered taking a tusk as a trophy. But the idea of holding onto any part of this bad blood was repugnant to him.

So he slipped from the room like a ghost, his tongue flicking out and scenting the air before he took off in the direction of Ahhve's scent.

….

Dawns-Teeth punched in the familiar codes to get the ship ready to launch. A thick static crackled over the com system and a voice rasped through the air waves.

_"Rude not to say goodbye." _

Dawns-Teeth flinched in surprise, pausing only long enough to collect his wits to answer back. "Didn't think we were that familiar." His clicks were rougher than he'd intended, the voice however took it in stride.

_"I'd call meetin' outside of work familiar. Lucky for you I just got on shift, though I woulda loved ta' hear you cuss our newest out." _

Dawns-Teeth stared at the com speaker, for the first time a feeling of dread swelling up inside his chest.

"Kel. I'm not coming back."

There was an uncharacteristic silence from the space-traffic controller. Dawns-Teeth thought that he could even hear her breathe.

_"Well." _She finally spoke and the pit in his stomach grew deeper. _"That's a damn shame." _

Was it? Dawns-Teeth blinked thickly as he recognized the feeling of regret that was spinning in his stomach.

'_We should leave.'_

Their clans only female, Dancing-Star, had said to him not but a few days ago.

_Leave?_

It was a foolish idea. Unthinkable.

'_This is unsustainable. We are going to get caught.'_

Dancing-Star told him she was going to leave the clan, make her way somewhere else. Maybe they could go together, make a life here in the sphere. No more running, or hiding, or loss or grief.

Just being alive with his arm around Kel. That was all he wanted.

_"Dawn, I need your flight code." _

Kel's voice startled Dawns-Teeth from his world shattering realization. He sat dumb for a moment, then fumbled with the computer keys to send the space-traffic controller the code.

"Sorry." He apologized, a rare thing. Ever rarer that he meant it.

_"Yeah. I'm sorry too." _Kel's gruff voice had never sounded so bitter, _"thought I changed your mind, that we aren't so different after all." _

"We aren't." Dawns-Teeth heard himself click, a weak trill followed his voice, the sound itself like the tinkling of breaking glass.

_"Then why can't you stay?" _

On his hands the myilliean's blood had dried black. His brother was dead. Dancing-Star was dead. Her wistful plans had been shattered by a lucky blow through a single eye socket, and all of Dawns-Teeth's budding hopes had died with her.

"I don't deserve to." Dawns-Teeth said coldly, "goodbye Kel." And with that he flicked off the com speaker. He made the decision not to wait for flight clearance to start the ships engines and break orbit. They were running on borrowed time anyway, anyone willing to chase them was welcome to get blasted once the ship collapsed the stretch of space and warped.

_I don't deserve to. _

Dawns-Teeth plunged the shift down into position and plugged in the codes needed to warp. The arm that had been damaged by the searing poison of the myilliean's quill throbbed and ached. He was deaf to his own agitated clicking as he struggled to keep focus. His hands were stark against the illuminated screens, black with dried blood, blood from someone who had shown unshakable bravery and will. Someone worthy of respect.

Dawns-Teeth shook himself.

_I've been here for too long, I've become weak. Mingling with these aliens- my rightful prey- poisoning my own mind. I never should have encouraged her conversation. I never should have become familiar. I should have kept walking that day and left her to her fate…_

Inch by inch he'd grown roots and put them in the soil of this place, knowing full well he'd wither here. His kind were cursed the day they first swam in the stars. It would have been better if they'd never left their native home, it would have been wiser to be content with the prey their own world had to offer. Better to have never met any aliens at all.

The screen in front of him blinked with an incoming message, it was Kel. Of course she'd try to get ahold of him. She always had to have the last word.

"Are you going to answer that?"

Dawns-Teeth froze, surprise ran it's sickly fingers down his spine, chased after by a sick feeling as he recognized the voice that was behind him. He moved to unsheath his blades but a strong, thin hands grabbed him by his locs and yanked his head back.

"_If you value your life you will not move." _the myilliean growled, they were covered in luminescent blood and the last of their quills was gone. Dawns-Teeth could guess the very last was a heart-beat away from his neck. A death blow, if the venom touched his blood.

A moment passed with the two of them staring at each other. Dawns-Teeth heard the computer ask for the last code it needed to take off.

"Are they dead?" Dawns-Teeth clicked.

The myilliean narrowed their dark eyes, their jaw and mandibles flexed and the green blood seemed to glow brighter. "What do you think?" Their hand fisted his gills and Dawns-Teeth growled.

"It's my turn then?" Dawns-Teeth sneered, his whole body tense as he readied to lash out, not caring if it was death itself that was pointed at his neck. He would not die sitting down.

"No. Not yet." the myilliean hissed, "_Pretty one." _

And Dawns-Teeth felt a shiver of pain ripple through his body, emanating from the center of his chest. The hand that was gripping his locs let go just as he looked down to see a single translucent quill sprouting from his skin.

(I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for reading and all of the lovely comments this story has received. I'm grateful and humbled by the kind things that have been said. I've recently been put back on night shift at my work -big heck yEAH!- so I'm hoping to get more chapters out faster. I did put a comment on this story about my art tumblr, and I thought I'd reiterate here that my drawings and sketches of these disaster children can be found on my art blog, Teeth-and-Other-Drugs. Make sure to type put #Shale or #Dag in the search bar to skip to the stuff that relates to this story. I hope you all have a great fucking day! )


	16. Chapter 16

Suffocating void. A taste like acid and rot, pungent and thick, rushing up behind the bitter scent of blood. Fire. Agony. Weightlessness. Dag surfaced from the dark lake of unconsciousness when a hot throb of pain laced through her back. A line from her hip to her shoulder was set alight and her eyes snapped open just as a rush of oxygen shot through her brain.

A strange cracking sound reached her ears and it was a moment before Dag realized it was her own voice. A mangled, ruined scream. She was lying on her stomach on a padded flat surface. When she opened her eyes, light flooded in and blinded her.

Her skittering thoughts shattered as another wave of pain ripped through her. Electric, burning, toe curling agony.

And then it stopped. Dag felt numb from the neck down and heard the sound of her body go limp. Her brain reeled from the shock and for a moment everything she saw went blurry. The void rushed up again and Dag sighed in bliss as it swallowed her whole once more.

...

"_Dawn!? Dawn! Power down your engines! Damnit! There's a freighter right-" _

"This ain't Dawn." Shale growled into the comm system and the space flight coordinator fell silent immediately. "I am unofficially working for the constable of the southern districts, get her on the line and tell her where this ship is."

A few moments passed before the flight coordinator spoke again. "_I'm putting an emergency call through."_ there was another pause. "_Where is the pilot of the ship?" _

Shale glanced to the still body that lay on the floor of the cockpit, Ahhve was crouching nearby, haggard and bloody, staring off into nothing.

"He can't talk right now." Shale said calmly, "considerin' he's under arrest an' all."

"_Right. Ah- I knew something was wrong-" _

There was concern in this voice and it was enough to peak Shale's interest. "Sounds like you knew 'em." he said casually. From where they sat Ahhve looked up and met his gaze, their own dark eyes questioning.

"_Yeah… A little I guess. You kind of end up makin' friends with the regulars that come and go through the docks." _

Shale didn't say anything. He was too busy thinking about what to do next.

"_This is probably a stupid question, but is he in a lot of trouble?" _

The scent of Ahhve's blood filled his mouth and Shale's mandible twitched. "I reckon he is." he hissed, "But that ain't for me to decide. You get the constable yet?"

"_No, but I put your location through the emergency line, and I'm waiting to hear back from the operator. Someone should be there soon." _

Shale hummed, the thoughtful sound was rough in his throat. Blood-in-the-Stars-Eyes was dead. The rest of his 'clan' was nothing more than a gaggle of yautja hardly old enough to have their gills braided into locs. From what Shale could gather their numbers had been dwindling for a while, probably as a direct result from breeding hard meats without the suitable equipment to keep them contained.

Needless, pointless waste. Just another horrible little tragedy.

"_Is Dawn okay?" _the traffic controller's voice shook Shale from his thoughts.

He grunted ill-temperedly, "No."  
"_...Oh…." _

Shale heard Ahhve stand up and walk over to him, more slowly than normal on account of their injuries.

"_The operator has just informed me they've sent someone," _the traffic controller's voice was stiff, "_I've been told that the constable has been alerted to your location as well." _

"Good, I'll be shuttin' these engines off meanwhile." Shale said as he slipped into the seat of the cock-pit.  
"_Can you do me a favor?" _

Shale paused.

"_Can you tell Dawn Kel says 'goodbye'?" _

A low growl rumbled in Shale's chest, "I will if I can." and with that he cut the line.

"If he wakes." Ahhve muttered dryly.

A low grumble vibrated in Shale's throat, "How're you doin'?" he asked, not willing to dwell on the strangeness of the flight controller's request.

"I have been better." They said softly.

Shale glanced up from the light screens he was working on, his eyes running over the blue gel that he'd plastered over Ahhve's ruined scalp. Maybe a few quills would grow back amongst the fine delicate transparent hairs. Maybe there wouldn't be too many bald patches.

"Did you… see what happened?" Ahhve whispered.

Shale deleted the last of the ship's launch codes and shut down it's engines before he faced Ahhve. There had been no time to talk, and now was the only moment of peace the two of them had until the law officers would arrive.

Yet never before had words failed him so profoundly. Shale gazed into Ahhve's dark eyes and struggled to speak. His hesitation spoke for him.

Ahhve's expression twisted, slowly the muscles underneath their blue skin writhed in pain. They made an odd choking sound before they forced themselves to turn away from Shale.  
"If you're still fixin' to kill me, I'd recommend you make it look like one of them did it. Hate for you to rot in a cell for makin' good on a promise-"

No sooner than he'd finished talking when a blistering shriek rattled Shale's domed head. It was so loud and so piercing that for a second his vision went white. Ahhve's keening scream ripped through every thought, every fiber of his being, and as suddenly as the cry took hold it ended with a harsh gasp.

Shale had to blink the stars from his eyes before he could see the screen in front of him, he felt Ahhve's eyes on the back of his head, burning with a heat only Dag's hell could inspire.

"_How?" _

The second or two of silence that followed was ended by the somber clicking of Shale's tusks, "...Not sure… didn't get to see that part."

Shale flinched as he felt Ahhve grab his shoulders and spin him around in the pilot's chair, "_You did not see!? How can you know they are dead if you did not see!?" _

Shale's eyes danced from one dark pupil to the next, "I didn't have to see the end! there was too much blood!" his clicks died in his throat as Ahhve's expression crumpled into itself. The strong leathery fingers that gripped his shoulders tightened painfully, enough that even his thick green skin would bruise.

Time stretched between them and Shale watched the emotions of Ahhve's face shift as they processed this new catastrophic loss. The hole in Shale's twin hearts was profound, aching with grief. The feeling was so cold he could only sit there, paralyzed as if by poison.

Finally they blinked and their gaze shifted from his mismatched eyes. Ahvve looked through the cockpit's viewscreen, their expression distant. "I need to see them." Ahhve whispered finally, the words were hoarse and thin from strain.

Shale nodded in the human manner,

"Do you still intend to go after the white hunter?" Ahvve asked suddenly.

The question surprised him. "Yes."

Ahhve was silent for a moment, their dark eyes gazing into far off thoughts, they loosened their grip and let go of his shoulders, stepping back to lean against the curved wall of the cockpit.

"You're welcome to come with me." Shale offered.

All he got was a grunt of acknowledgement, Ahhve had retreated deep within themself to think. And Shale left them to it.

...

The first thing Dag became coherently aware of was how bright the lights must be to bleed so hotly through her closed eyelids. Her vision was nothing but the color of dull orange. She didn't dare open her eyes, the pain of the light would be so great it certainly would split her pounding head in two.

She floated for what felt like a mere moment. The haze of light swimming, then darkening, and finally slipping into sleep. Serpentine forms melted from the blackness. Inky glossy bodies writhed in a twisted dance as Dag sank further into them. Their obscenely human six fingers hands grasped at her. Gripping, holding, and groping. Their slippery claws cutting into her delicate flesh, puncturing holes in her abdomen and chest, blood dripping, pouring down her back and legs. Dag opened her mouth to let loose a scream, but nothing came. There was only crushing silence as she was dragged, deeper and deeper into a dark slimy hell.

Light exploded all around her and Dag lashed out, a feral scream rushed from her chest and cut into the air. Her feet hit the freezing floor and she nearly slipped on the blanket her legs had gotten tangled in. Dag's hands wacked against a solid, warm heat before another's arms caught hold of her and held her fast.

For a second there was nothing but the blind panicked fragments of her nightmare. So freakishly real she could still taste blood and feel the alien's violating touch. But a low purr sounded, shaking her firmly back into reality.

Dag stood, panting and shaking, her eyes unseeing as her mind caught up to her senses. Shale purred again and her sight focused on the thick smear of blue gel in front of her. She blinked and looked up at the tall wiry hunter, his living hand was hot on her shoulder, and the pair of arms wrapped so tightly around her were the deepest, clearest cobalt blue.

"_Ah-Ahhve…" _Her shuddering whisper was answered by the feeling of her old friend's mandibles opening to press their lips to her temple.

Dag's mouth twisted into a painful frown as her memories caught up with her. She'd survived. Somehow.

Her hands came up to touch Ahhve's arms and Dag turned around to see them. Their pale blue face was flushed with blood, giving it a violet hue, Dag could still see where the cell stimulators had been attached to heal cuts and fractured bone. But Ahhve's head was wrapped in agauze, Dag blinked, wondered how it could be so closely wrapped to their face and skull with all of their quills in the wa-

"Please Dag, you need to get back in the bed."

"Ahhve what-?" Dag reached up to touch the gauze and flinched at the sudden burn of pain that ripped down her back. She felt Shale and Ahhve take her back to lie down.

"Where's Baal?" Dag asked, her voice suddenly urgent as she looked up at the two aliens hovering over her. The thin fingers that still held her hands tightened, just as Ahhve closed their eyes and knelt by her bed. Dag moved to sit up just in time to see Shale turn away, his posture was straight and stoic, but she could tell his head was bowed.

Dag looked back at Ahhve, gasping when she saw the top of their head, finally realizing that all of their quills were gone. Their oval skull was bound in fibrous strips, transparent enough that Dag could see thick blue skin scraped and peeled back to reveal lilac pale meat underneath. Ahhve tilted their face up to meet her gaze and their hold on her hands became tighter.

Skin cold and face pale, Dag swallowed. "Wh- where is Baal?" her voice trembled like that of a girl's.

Ahhve opened their mouth to speak, but nothing came. Nothing. Dag's vision blurred as the air left her lungs, left the room, left until all that remained was the unbearable silence.

"Ahhve- what happened!?" Dag squeezed their boney fingers as she felt herself begin to shake. "What happened? Where is she? Where's Baal? _Where is she!? Where is Baal!?" _

Dag voice rose higher and higher, from a ragged whisper to a bright, keening scream that melted into a hideous wail. A sound that drowned out the soft hushed crying of the blue figure that knelt by her bed. Battered and crumpled, like a butterfly with savaged wings.

Quiet as a shadow the grey-gilled yautja walked out of the room, unwilling to share in their alien rituals of mourning.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Hey everyone! How about 2020 so far huh? this year has literally been the distilled ass sweat from satan's butt crack. I'm sorry this update is very short but another chapter is on the way. This was just where the story needed to stop and breathe. anyway, take care of yourselves my dudes.


	17. Chapter 17

[Trigger warning: Mental anguish/Suicidal ideation, self harm, sexual content.]

"Hey old man, are you sure about this?" Dag squatted by Shale as he lay on his back, working underneath his ships control panels.

She heard a gruff trill and rolled her eyes. His alligatory hand appeared and Dag placed the welding tool in his palm. The first few times she helped him fix stuff on his ship she struggled telling which tool was which, but now it was second nature. Though she still didn't know what most of them did. Ancient or not, his busted junker was still centuries ahead of anything humans were capable of.

"You ever gonna get a new ride?"

Dag heard a dismissive grunt from Shale.

"No offense meant, but wouldn't it be nice to not have to fix something every time you plugged a warp code in or, god forbid, wiped your ass?"

A clawed hand set aside its tool before its owner moved out from under the control panel. Shale gave Dag a withering look with his mismatched eyes, she managed to smile at him.

The old hunter growled and pointed to the door of the cockpit, his living hand and the new prosthetic one spoke in place of the trills and clicks her human ears couldn't understand.

This will be fixed soon. Find something useful to do.

"Oh? Pestering you ain't useful?

His deep throaty growl ended in a fluttering trill before Shale took a playful swipe at Dag, which she dodged. "Alright! I'll fuck off!" she said.

Do not throw anything of mine away. Shale gestured at her before she walked out of sight.

"Yeah, yeah." Dag went out into the hallway and closed the door behind her, "fucking packrat."

Dag walked down the familiar corridor, her feet took her beyond the medical bay and the storage rooms, long quiet since she and Ahhve had left the yautjan spacecraft. The dull shade of red metal and the haze of orange light that surrounded her was no longer comforting.

The past week had been hell. Her body still ached from the damage it had been put through. A broken ankle, ribs, fractured bones in her hands, arm, leg, face. A scar, deep enough to gouge into bone ran the length from her left hip to her right shoulder, and countless other little nicks and cuts were turning from scabs to raw red skin. Human skin always remembered.

Cell stimulators accelerated bone and tissue growth, knitting together fractures and weaving together muscle and flesh. But that didn't make the ache go away.

All of that was nothing compared to the hole Baal had left behind.

Saisoa preferred to be buried in the soil of their homeworld, so yesterday the three of them and a select group of close friends had seen Baal's remains off, packed into the hull of a cargo ship that was heading to that part of the milky way. Baal's plants had been given to friends to be cared for, everyone who'd arrived at the service got one of her shawls and a piece of her jewelry. Tokens of love from the dead to the living. Ahhve had then packed the rest of their things and joined Shale and Dag on the ship. Just a few days and it was like Ahhve and Baal had never lived in that apartment at all.

The folks that moved into that space would never know of the graceful feline alien that once lounged in the middle room, bathing in the dim sunlight and humming to her plants. They'd never hear her deep rumbling voice or feel the softness of her velvet black fur. They'd never get to hold her. Dag would never get to hold her. Never again.

Ahhve had hardly said two words put together to Dag since the funeral. Why they decided to come along with her and Shale on the hunt, Dag hadn't a clue. Maybe they were going to kill her once the white bastard was dead. It would only be fair after all. Baal's death was her fault.

Dag knew she wouldn't be able to endure any more of Ahhve's grieving silence, so she headed to the one place on Shale's ship she knew they despised. It had been years, but she still remembered the code to get in. The door slid open and Dag went to step in when she was struck dumb by the slender blue figure that sat in the middle of the room.

Ahhve turned at the sound of the door, blinked in acknowledgement, and then turned back to the rows of skulls that lay before them. Human skulls. A moment that felt like a cold eternity passed. Sweating, Dag went to move as soon as the feeling returned to her feet, but a soft voice held her still in a vice-like grip.

"Did you know about them?"

Dag turned to look at them, and saw that Ahhve still wasn't looking at her, but the skulls.

"Saw 'em once before." She admitted after a moment, "He hid them after that, because I freaked out."

She saw Ahhve nod to themselves. Dag stared at their polished pale blue face, feeling her heart quiver and throb in her chest. Wanting desperately to go to them and embrace them, rip open her chest and pour out all of her love into the holes Baal had left behind.

But grief didn't work that way. No matter how much she gave and gave and gave, it would still be her fault.

Stiffly, Dag turned to leave again. She was about to close the door when Ahhve spoke.

"How could you trust him?"

Dag's mind sputtered until she remembered what the hell they were talking about. "I…" her eyes stared straight ahead and towards the floor, lost in memories, trying to find the answer to Ahhve's question. "I didn't…. Not… not after that… He- He earned it I guess…I guess I had to trust him… I had no one else." Her voice was a stuttering mess, she was lost, lost in memories, lost in grief.

Dag raised her head and met Ahhve's dark gaze. Their slanted eyes were half shut in a thoughtful expression as they studied her. Dag felt trapped, rooted to the spot by her sorrow, guilt and regret.

Ahhve finally turned from her, they got up and in one elegant movement plucked a skull from the floor. The other hand took its matching jaw and carefully fit the two pieces together. For a moment they only held it, gazing into sockets long dead and empty.

Her hands were clammy and cold, Dag could feel her throbbing heart pound as the pause grew longer and longer. She had to say something, she couldn't stand it.

"Is…. Can I…. Help you?"

Ahhve looked up, their ears swiveled and pricked towards her. "Help..?" they parroted.

"I mean- is there anything I can do?"

Ahhve's mandibles slacked for a moment and they glanced around at the sightless grinning skulls, "Maybe? I do not know if these should be put back, do you think we should bury them? That is what humans do?" But as soon as their last question left their lips they saw Dags agonized expression and their mouth formed a perfect line.

A moment passed and they set the skull down, gently, with reverence. Before they made their way over to where she stood.

"Dag, you have done more than enough to help me." They reached out to take her hands in theirs but Dag flinched away. As much as she wanted the comfort and reassurance, as much as she needed it, she knew, deep in her core that it was wrong.

_I don't deserve it. I don't deserve anything. This is all my fault. _

"I-I really should be checking on the tanks," she said as she backed away through the doorway, "I'll be there if you need anything." Dag made a hasty retreat, not able to bring herself to look at their face. She stabbed the code onto the cryo-room's panel with her finger and pushed her way inside, the pounding of her heart was slowly filling up her ears and throbbing in her head. It hurt. Everything hurt.

The tanks were what Shales ship used for cryosleep. The three of them would be hooked up to life support systems and suspended in a viscous liquid while they hurtled through a warp in space.

Dag numbly walked around, her eyes and hands going over the glossy yautjan tech bathed in red light. Occasionally she checked what she could to see if everything was all functioning, she didn't know the ship like Shale did, but there were some things she recognized. Everything looked in order. Shale had kept the modified masks he'd made for her and Ahhve all those years ago. They'd already been hooked up, waiting patiently to be used in the tanks.

Her hand came to rest on the cool aluminum glass and Dag stared at her reflection for a long, empty moment. A part of her didn't really believe that the person staring back was herself. Tan brown skin waxen with stress, dull dark eyes, her face was decorated with new and healing scars. Forever reminders of her failure.

Heavy, Dag closed her eyes and lay her forehead against her reflection. Her emotions churning in her stomach, a feeling too ugly and horrible for words gnawed on her insides, making it difficult to breathe.

Dag slammed her head against the glass. Again, and again, and again. The pain was cathartic. It was release. A pressure valve to the maelstrom of agony that was threatening to rip her apart. She could pretend it wasn't there around Shale, but not Ahhve. Not the person she had swore to protect all those years ago when they were a battered broken orphan. Now they were orphaned again. _And it was her fault. _

The skin on her forehead split and hot blood ran down her face. Dag gripped the edges of her tank and slammed her head into the glass, blood mixed with tears. She could feel her teeth groan and crack, skin split, bone fracture. But it was nothing, nothing to what was boiling inside.

"_DAG!"_

Dag snapped up and looked over her shoulder to see Ahhve standing in the doorway, an expression of horror stricken in their eyes. Before she could utter a sound they had rushed over and were pulling her away from the tank, dizzy and dazed Dag protests slurred as Ahhve dragged her to the medical bay.

"Ahhve- please, I'm fin-"

"_Fine!? Is that what you are going to say!? You are fine?" _Ahhve jabbed the code into the medic bay's door and took her inside. They roughly shoved her onto a chair and through Dag's haze she could see their pupils drawn into slits, yellow irises blazing like the sun. "_You're not fine! No one on this ship is FINE!" _

Cursing, they went to the supply cabinet and yanked it open, they were angrier than Dag had ever seen them, not that she could see much, one of her eyes was swollen shut, and her head was swimming.

"I'm sorry…" Dag whispered, she never intended for them to see, she wasn't sure what she intended.

"_Shut up! Just shut up!" _Ahhve snarled and in an unheard of show of anger they smashed one of Shale's glass instruments. Dag sat there in shock, she'd never seen them act like this. Not when she and Shale rescued them from the bad blood's ship, not after she had been kidnapped, not even when she told them she'd decided to leave. Dag felt them grab her by the head and she cried out in pain,  
"_Shh!" _Ahhve hissed and Dag heard a clicking sound, and then relief bloomed in the center of her forehead. She reached up and felt a pair of cell stimulator packs stuck to her temples. Ahhve came back with a damp cloth and started to clean the blood from her face.

"What were you doing Dag!?" they snapped, tears sharp on the edge of their voice, "What was that!?" even as they wiped the blood away she felt their hands were shaking.

"I-"

"Your brain is so soft!" unspoken fear bled into their voice, "You could have done permanent damage! Would you have me lose you too? Why were you hurting yourself-!?"

"_I don't know!" _Dag pushed Ahhve's hands away, "I-I just! _I felt like I was going to explode!" _

Their expression softened and after a moment they knelt down at her feet. "Why did you say nothing of this?" Ahhve's dark eyes implored Dag, their trembling hands formed a cage around hers, "There are trauma centers- Dag-" their voice caught and the sudden quiet that enveloped them sank around Dag like winter air. There was so much pain and fear in their voice. "Dag… I…" their voice rasped and they bowed their head for a moment, their grief stricken face twisted in Dag's gut like a knife. "Dag I know…I know what you're feeling-"

_No you don't… _

"-There is no reason for you to be alone. I am weeping for her too." they lay their delicate hand over the center of their middle where their heart lay, the blue hand that still held hers trembled.

"_It's not just that Baal's dead!" _Dag screamed, her voice suddenly sucked in, gasping as the weight left her shoulders. Ahhve was still where they knelt, looking up at her in rapt attention, their dark eyes wet and glossy.

"Then what is it?" they whispered, "You can tell me, you can tell me _anything, _nothing you could say would make me love you any less."

Dag's quivering heart splintered into a thousand pieces. Her breath quietly sucked in as she gasped, her wet eyes gummed up with tears and she sat shaking under the weight of Ahhve's words.

"Whu-Why aren't you mad at me?" Dag's hoarse voice whispered.

Ahhve was shaking their head, "Mad? Why would I be mad?"

"_Ahhve!" _Dag winced as her eyes refocused, her sight was back and her voice no longer slurred, "Ahhve- I- this-" she reached up to claw the cell stim packs off of her head, "_I don't deserve to be here!" _

Strong blue hands stopped her from ripping the packs from her scalp, "Yes you do! _Yes you do!" _

"Ahhve-"

"I do not _blame you _Dag," their voice lashed out and cooled the very air between the two of them, "Baal did not die so you could dash apart your brains on Shale's ship! She died _protecting you! _She _loved you!" _

"STOP! JUST STOP!" Dag cried out and shoved at Ahhve, trying desperately to get away, "it's my fault she's gone! If I wasn't so fucking stupid none of this wouldn't have happened! I never should have talked to that fucking Yautja! I never should have danced with him in the first place! _I should have known better!" _

Ahhve only gazed at her, their jaw set and angry, "ah! so then- by that logic Do you think I am responsible for my parents deaths?"

Dag's whole body went cold and she felt the blood drain from her face.

"_I _was warned by the people in my village of the hunters that came when the weather grew hot. _I _knew better than to approach the wounded one yet still I did. _I lead them _to my village, to my home, to my parents, and my act of mercy brought death upon them all. _Was that my fault Dag? Was it?_"

In her mind's eye she saw the frail child Ahhve had been once long ago. She could see them coming upon the Yautja she herself had all but killed with her bow and arrow not even a day before. She could imagine Ahhve taking the bad blood back to their home, compassion overriding the vicious bloody stories they'd been brought up on.

"_I did not wield the blade that ended my parents lives," _Ahhve's voice had become like calm water, washing over Dag with gentle persistence. "Nor were you the queen that killed Baal, it is not your fault, it is not your fault."

Dag closed her eyes, feeling hot wetness roll down her cheeks. Slowly she lowered her head and was caught in Ahhve's embrace, she was held in their strong arms and cradled against their chest. Ahhve murmured something to her, soft and full of love, but Dag didn't catch the words. The pounding ache in her chest was so great it drowned out the sounds around her, her own breathing, her tears, all silenced by the pressure that was slowly being released.

Her own arms slowly wrapped around them, clutching at their smooth cobalt blue skin and she felt thick wet tears fall onto her curly hair,

"Whu-why do I get to live?" Dag whispered into the soft curve of Ahhve's neck. They hummed in the back of their throat, she could feel the sound vibrate across her skin. "I'm nothing! I'm not special! I don't deserve to be here more than anybody else!"

Ahhve's voice gently hissed from their lips in a soothing sound, their hand smoothed over Dag's tense back even as she gripped them tight. "You deserve to be here…" Ahhve murmured, "You are wanted, you are loved, You have done _nothing wrong. _You are a survivor, you are here, you are alive and you are with _me." _

_With you… with you… with you… _

A well of pressure shattered inside of Dag's chest.

A low wail tore its way through her throat as she sank against Ahhve's embrace. Her back throbbed at their touch and her sense of balance wavered, everything was nebulous until Dag could feel the cool floor make contact with her knees. Underneath her choking sobs she could hear Ahhve's soft murmurs, the unsteady hitch of their breath tore at her heart like a white hot brand.

In her mind's eye Dag could see the acid seared face of Baal. Her beautiful silken fur melted off, exposing raw meat and bright iridescent bone. The queen's blood had eaten it's way through her skull and fried her brain. By the time the medic's got there Baal was already gone. An ugly, painful end to the kind and gentle being that had laid down by Dag in those last moments.

It felt like an awful nightmare, just like when her family was obliterated. Those first few months waking aboard Shale's ship had been a hazy red blur. The echo of her heartbeat ringing in her ears and the absence of tears on her cheeks.

"When this is all over… when the hunt is done… I was going to ask you to come live with us again."

Dag shuddered and wiped at her hot face, Ahhve was looking down at her, their own grief glossy on their face.

"Us?"

"Baal and I," Ahhve clarified, their expression was impossibly sad, "She may be gone, but the offer still stands."

Dag sat for a moment, her head swimming with questions.

"All I ask is that you think about it." Ahhve said quietly. They leaned forward and Dag felt their mandibles part so that their thin lips could press to her forehead.

"Ahhve…" Dag took a moment to breathe , "Ahhve… I've never…" She swallowed, "I've never thought about what would happen to me _after _the hunt."

They grunted, "Neither have I." Dag heard the edge of a laugh escape their lips and she looked up to see them gazing beyond her and the room they were in.

She'd never even considered a future without Shale. It felt like the end to everything. Dag closed her eyes and lay her head on Ahhve's shoulder, "Nothing's going to change is it… when they're all dead… I'll still feel the same."

Ahhve hummed, "Maybe. At the very least, they will never hurt anyone ever again."

Dag had to agree with that. She wiped at the last of her tears and stood from the floor to go over to a mirror. The cell stim packs had dried up and the scab on Dag's forehead was flaking off. She had a dull headache, but nothing some rest couldn't take care of.

"I feel like such an asshole." Dag cranked on the sink and splashed cold water on her face and neck, "I must've scared the shit out of you."

"Yes you did. I raised my voice at you, I am sorry."

Just as Dag was drying off her face she felt Ahhve's arms wrap around her from behind, she closed her eyes and relaxed against their chest. Their soft fine hair tickled her skin as they pressed their cheek on the top of her head.

"I don't know what came over me…" Dag murmured softly,

"You are upset. You are grieving." Ahhve kissed her on the temple where one of the stim packs used to be, "next time, please talk to me, you are not alone Dag."

A part of Dag that she'd long thought lost grew warm. "Not while I have you around." she admitted, to them and to herself.

The two of them stood for a long moment, holding and being held, existing in the calm and the quiet of the ship. For the first time in days Dag felt like she could breathe. Her emotions were acknowledged, she was given space to feel them and knew she could come back to this place again.

"Thanks… Ahhve." Dag turned to face them, she felt lighter, still guilty, still sad, but loved. And that gave her the strength to go forward. Ahhve's mandibles moved so that they could smile at her, their dark eyes shining in the red light.

An impulse struck Dag like a bolt of electricity. She reached out to clasp Ahhve's face and pulled them down to her lips. Ahhve's mandibles twitched and Dag flinched back, "Oh!"

"Sorry! You surprised me-" Ahhve gently took Dag's hands in theirs and she laughed out loud.

"S-shit- I'm sorry-" Dag shook her head, "Fuck- I should've asked-"

Whatever Dag was going to say next died on her lips as Ahhve bent down over her, their luminous blue face glowing purple in the light, their mandibles parted and they pressed their lips to hers in a chaste kiss.

Ahhve regarded Dag for a moment before gently brushing the remnants of the scab from her brow. "Is that what you wanted?" they asked softly.

Dag swallowed, her throat had become dry and tight, "O-one time… during a flight training exercise, the computer malfunctioned, the engines almost blew up, just me and one other classmate managed to get off unscratched."

Ahhve nodded, their eyes still holding hers with a calm intensity.  
"She and I kind of… hooked up after that… a lot"

"Hooked up..?"

Dag vaguely made a lewd gesture and watched as Ahhve's ears perked up.

"Ah…" they hummed,

"This wasn't the best time to bring it up- I did it on impulse- I- just- I just wanted..."

"To not be feeling like shit?" Ahhve cut Dag off with a question, slowly she nodded and watched as the tiniest sliver of yellow encircled Ahhve's dark eyes. They made a thoughtful sound, and looked toward the medical bay's door.

"It would be a pleasant distraction…" They murmured, almost to themselves. Dag felt herself sag with relief,

"Thank god, I was afraid you'd take it the wrong way."

Ahhve shook their head, a soft smile was on their face, "I never would have thought you were sensitive about intimacy."

"Nah, not unless I give a fuck about the other person." She lay a hand on Ahhve's hard leathery chest, "And I give _so many _fucks about you."

Ahhve's hand came to rest over hers and the other smoothed back her curly hair, "and I you." they whispered as they leaned forward, mandibles stretched, and Dag stood on her tiptoes to receive another gentle kiss.

The part of her that was still aching yielded at the soft pressure against her mouth. Just like she'd hoped Dag felt almost all of her thoughts fall away as her attention focused on the heat of their skin and the scent that bloomed all around her. Her hands moved to encircle Ahhve's neck, her fingers running through soft hair instead of gleaming quills.

Strong thin arms pulled her ever closer, blue lips opened against hers and Dag sank into the strange kiss. Ahhve's tongue was textured, and their teeth were sharp, their taste and smell distinctly alien.

But the dance was the same.

Those sharp teeth delicately drew over her lips in a mock bite, anything more would snip her flesh and make her bleed. Ahhve pulled away and Dag saw their dark pupils had narrowed further, black rimmed with bright gold.

"Should we take this somewhere else?" Their whisper danced over her skin as they bent to kiss the curve of her neck, those deadly teeth grazing over her thin human skin and sent chills through her veins.

"No," Dag sighed, the slight headache in the center of her forehead had eased, chased away by another's hands, another's kisses. She felt giddy, her head was swimming. Dag's hands moved around Ahhve's chest to unzip them out of their shirt, the fabric fell to the floor and she pressed her lips to their hard chest and up to their supple neck. She felt Ahhve sigh, a low sweet sound, and then she was being picked up. Ahhve deftly plucked her off of her feet and carried Dag over to one of the metal operating tables.

The computer screen turned on once Dag's butt touched the cool padding and she twisted in Ahhve's arms to turn it off.

"Stupid-"

Ahhve chuckled as she struggled to with the medical computer,

"-Fucking-" Dag smacked the screen and the machine took the hint to shut down.

"The last thing we need is to be poked at with needles." Ahhve joked,

"Hey, some people are into that."

"Mhm," Ahhve scrunched up their face, "are you trying to tell me something?"

Dag laughed then, amazed that she still could, it felt amazing to laugh. She drew Ahhve close to kiss them again, feeling warm down all the way down to her core.

"Smart ass."

Their mandibles stretched back to show a dry humored smile, they looked like something out of those old horror movie files she kept aboard her ship, relics of a time before humans swam in the stars. Those terrifying teeth came so close to her neck and tender skin, still sore from her near-death experience almost a week before. Dag's fingers moved up to run through their thin silky hair, she could feel the rough scar tissue that now covered their scalp, barely concealed underneath the translucent hairs.

Ahhve hummed and leaned into her hand, they closed their eyes for a moment, clearly enjoying her touch. A fluttery growl sounded from their throat and the sound struck Dag like a spark of electricity, gold and sweet. With a huff, Dag sat up and unzipped the top half of her jumpsuit, Ahhve's hands ran from her back to her thighs, even through fabric the touch felt like amber fire.

"So, What am I doing?" Ahhve's murmur was tinged with laughter,

"_Ah shit." _Dag paused, her mind scrambling, "Fuck, you're bi-pedal… and warm-blooded, we should mostly be the same?"

Ahhve snorted, "_In theory…" _Dag's sudden flash of anxiety was soothed by the press of their lips. "But it is not always true in reality."

"Of course it isn't," Dag sighed, "Well, what do _you _like?"

But Ahhve only shook their head, "I believe I asked you first."

Dag bit her lip at that, a heat rising to her cheeks in response to the intense gaze of Ahhve's glossy dark eyes. She scooted up on the table and unzipped her jumpsuit as far as it would go. "My external reproductive organs are here," She pointed to her crotch and then formed an oval with her hands to demonstrate. "I have a vaginal opening, and there's an external bundle of nerves called a clitoris. It's a pretty basic set up."

Ahhve nodded in agreement, "I was with a Veriapien once, days passed before I stopped coughing up pollen."

"_Ahhve!" _Dag wheezed, the current situation forgotten as the image of them with a sentient plant filled her mind.

"Worth it." Ahhve clicked. Their hands framed Dag and they settled over her, "have you any requests?" they asked as one hand pressed against the center of her chest.  
"Yeah, keep your fingers out of my asshole."

Ahhve snorted and low laughter bubbled up between the two of them, "noted." They said before they kissed her again. Dag could feel herself smile against their lips. Her hands made their way up to wrap around their shoulders, she settled into the moment, savouring this new experience for what it was. A break. A break from being fucking miserable.

Dag hummed as Ahhve's hand graced over her torso, slightly frustrated at how lost she was on how to reciprocate. Ahhve's sharp teeth slipped over Dag's neck and sent a bolt of adrenaline down her spine. A sigh fluttered from her lips, a sound more heated than any that had come before it. Dag felt Ahhve's warm breath exhale over her skin, the hand on her stomach grazed over the crux of her thighs before moving to grip her by the hip.

Their other hand pulled her up from the table so that she sat on the edge, Dag moved her legs around their waist as she would with a human.

Their slender fingers left her hip to slip between her thighs, Dag's breath caught in her throat at the sudden touch and the heat it inspired. "Here?" Ahhve's asked, Dag let out a tight sigh, her face felt hot, "Here," She reached between the two of them and corrected their hand.

"Ah," Ahhve deftly pulled aside her underwear, the warm pads of their smooth fingers moved over Dag's skin, golden heat prickled through her nerves and she could feel herself beginning to melt into their touch. "_Here?" _They asked, their voice as soft and as sensual as pink silk.

"Mhm," Dag nodded, Ahhve's hand held her around her waist as they caressed her heated wet skin. She pulled Ahhve close to whisper their name in their ears, she saw them twitch and when they moved to look at her their pupils had dilated into two thin slivers of black.

"Guess that's universally sexy-" Dag laughed breathily.

Ahhve didn't say anything, but a rattling click of agreement did sound from their throat. Their dilated pupils made them look particularly feral, but their expression remained tender. The hand on her back pressed against her skin and Ahhve's fingers quickened, causing the muscles in Dag's legs to clench in anticipation.

She hooked her ankles around Ahhve's hips and shivered when their thin voice pressed up against her ear. Dag's eyes closed and her hands curled in bliss, her stress was unwound from the tight ball it had formed in her chest, her tired mind relaxed into the rhythm of her heart beat.

A feeling sweet and sticky as honey was blooming from her chest, warmth spread from the apples of her cheeks all the way to her inner thighs.

_Close…_

The feeling of warmth was suddenly shattered at the sound of the door to the medical bay opening. Dag yelped and Ahhve made a startled clicking noise in the back of their throat, they both looked at the door and Dag felt like she'd been drenched in ice water.

Shale stood in the doorway shock still, the shadows made by the ship's dim red lights obscured his face and whatever expression was there. The blood drained from her face and Dag could feel sweat forming at the back of her neck and her hands went clammy.

Just when her brain had overcome her surprise and was giving way to embarrassment her old mentor lifted his hands up and, like he had seen Dag do many times before, shot the two of them a pair of finger guns. Shale then backed out of the doorway and out of sight far more quietly than he'd arrived. Dag could swear she heard him trill in amusement.

After a very tense pause of silence Dag wheezed and Ahhve groaned,

"The coding relay must be fixed…" Ahhve muttered stiffly.

Nervous laughter hissed out from between Dag's teeth, "_I think…. That just took ten years off of my life…" _

Ahhve whispered a soft, but very heartfelt curse, "He has incredible timing."

The two of them looked at each other and then cracked up laughing. Dag's smile was so wide her face hurt and her eyes filled with tears of mirth. Ahhve's own reed-thing voice gasped for air and they pulled away from Dag to try to regain some amount of composure. Eventually the release of tension faded and Dag wiped at her eyes and sighed.

"Any chance of recapturing the mood?" She asked, she looked into Ahhve's eyes and saw they were still dilated, but they shook their head.

Dag sighed, "Didn't think so…" she righted her underwear and zipped herself back up in her jumpsuit. "One day I'll get him for that."

"You and me both." Ahhve had picked up their shirt and was pulling it back on. "I am sorry-"

"Ahhve... " Dag chuckled, feeling lighter than she had in _years. _"The point was to blow off steam, and I might not have gotten completely laid but I did laugh my ass off."

She watched as Ahhve's pale blue face warmed into an affectionate smile, they hummed to themself and spoke, "Wherever she is right now, I can feel Baal laughing with us."

Though the thought of Baal did bring fresh tears of grief to her eyes, Dag smiled at the picture it formed in her head. Baal would have chuffed with them. She would have given them a wink and a cheeky flick of her tail and she would have found Shale barging in supremely funny.

Dag wasn't sure if there was an afterlife. She'd seen so much senseless death in her youth, and carried back so many forgotten dead in her adult career. But imagining that Baal could still see them brought her some small amount of relief.

The new hole in her chest would never heal, but that didn't mean her love had to stop growing.

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I've had this scene in my head for AGES and it's such a relief to finally put it out there. If anybody has an opinion let me know what you think. I am basing a lot of the emotional fallout of what I'm writing on things that I've experienced in my own life. So, I hope that the character's reactions feel organic. I also hope the smutty scene doesn't feel too wordy, Dag and Ahhve are close but neither of them are mind readers. I want to normalize spoken consent and the awkwardness that sex can be in my writing, both in my fanfics and original works. I hope that all makes sense, lol thank you for reading and I hope you're all feeling okay in this raging dumpster fire of a year!


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